Written on Her Back
by Project Hypocrisy
Summary: Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts. Author's note added!
1. Chapter One: The Shack

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

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**Chapter One**

**The Shack**

I was sitting on the quilted bed, knees drawn up and my back to the headboard. I was quite tired and my eyelids drooped over my burning eyeballs. My joints ached and swelled. My feet were swollen as well. I sat in a wheelchair when a wheelchair wasn't needed for almost seven years. However, I had to pat myself on the back; to act the part of some brain dead fool, drooling, eyes glazed for seven years was the work of a genius.

Walking was a bad idea. Running, even worse. Once we got on the back of that truck, the relief was nothing I had ever experienced. I lay limp next to my sister, her arm wrapped around my shoulders. We bounced around for a good hour before coming to smooth dirt road and eventually a paved one. I watched as the sun rose over the flat hilltops and the cool night breeze was chased away to a warm stifling heat.

We reached Kalm by midday, sometime after I started to dry heaved over the side of the truck. My sister unhooked my bra allowing some air into my lungs. But the heat... it was unbearable. For how long had I lived in an air conditioned room? We hobbled over to the inn, rented a room and pulled back the curtains. I laid in bed for what seemed like days but was only a couple of hours.

Time seemed to not be what it once was out here, in the real world. My sister was three feet taller, had crow's feet around her eyelids, had thick eczema patches around her knees but yet held her ground with dignity and strength that I never saw her have before. She was no longer the child I knew. And nor was I. I had lost weight. Not much, but enough to lose a dress size. There were pin pricks around my knuckles. My skin was gaunt. My eyes yellowed. But it didn't matter now. I was free.

My sister returned with two bottles of hair dye and a pair of sheers. We crowded the bathroom mirror, cutting our hair on a towel. We were jovial. Laughing and nervously snipping away at each other's hair. I instructed her to give me bangs. I never had bang before. She corrected me: "mom used to give you bangs all the time." I never remembered that. I changed from a brunette to a blonde. She changed from a blonde to a redhead. Amazing how someone changes from a simple hair style.

She had bought contact lenses, something I never used. I was always with my glasses. Probably something I should have left behind. I suddenly donned brown eyes. Something I never thought I would ever have the experience of having. Suddenly, I was someone new, someone who had a new slate, a slate I would paint to my intentions.

"Helena?"

"Yup." I looked up at the mirror, looking at my sister looking at me. We stood there looking at each other, through our mirrored images, for some time. She smiled, placed a hand on my shoulder and said nothing more. She had said plenty before and it did nothing. I didn't want her to talk of the past, I made that clear. I didn't want her to know how much I planned this day in my bed, every sleepless night, plotting a vicious onslaught of painful words. I didn't want her to know how much hate was harbored here. I didn't want her to know what I had been through all because she refused to acknowledge me as her flesh, as her blood, as someone cut from the same cloth.

I pulled on a pair of jeans, something a little different than what I had grown accustomed to: a billowing pair of white linen slacks and a shirt that hung loose around my neck. It was refreshing. I felt human.

She walked around the room, drilling over and over again her current predicament in her head. She knew we were doomed. It was only a matter of time. We were both inexperienced girls in a world that could very well claim our lives before we got caught. I had no training, my sister was a city girl raised on a farm (but a city girl nonetheless), and I just got out of a faked coma.

"Yeah, this is going to be a problem."

I settled by the window, looking out to the small gathering of folks outside. Was that a dog they had with them?

"Maybe we can get a guide." I uttered instinctually.

Kathelyn thought about it for a minute. Mauled it in her head. "What do we do about explaining our "needs"? Do we just say: "we need a strong, able-body guide, willing to risk their life for two chicks who have it in with the well-known and documented backdoor workings of Shin Ra"?"

It came to me, like lightning, "We don't tell them anything." Kathelyn gave me a look I remembered from my childhood: skepticism. She was never one to trust. "I had Flore move my account to a bank in the slums. Before we left I had her take out the money. I have over twenty-five thousand Gil sewed into my jacket," I fetched the jacket, making my point. "We just flash the money. Say we're avoiding your boyfriend, or something and be on our merry way."

Kathe thought about it and shook her head, "they'll ask when they notice Shin Ra's following us."

"I doubt very much the whole company will be out to look for us. I'm really of no use if the entire planet knows about how deep their dealings go." I flashed her the cash, "we've got the money. It's really amazing what people will do for money." Kathe's face soured visibly, "I didn't mean anything by that."

"You're right. We'll just have to keep two steps ahead of Shin Ra and a step ahead of our guide. We can't possibly do this alone."

I nodded. "There's a bar just a ways into the city. There's a ton of miners out of work. There's gotta be someone willing to help us out."

"Why are they out of work?"

"Monsters apparently overran the Mythril Mines."

Kathe hissed in disappointment, "and you think we'll find someone who can protect us from said monsters?"

I shrugged. "Worth a try. Might find what we're looking for."

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First chapter. Hope it seems interesting enough to keep you on board! I quickly looked over it and proofread what I did see. Do tell me what you think, what needs to be fixed... or pm me to Beta read this and future chapters! I only do exchanges on Beta, so hit me up!

**Edit 13-10-17**


	2. Chapter Two: When we Bleed

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

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**Chapter Two**

**When we bleed, we bleed the same**

I wasn't like the others. I knew that. They had talent. Were trained heroes. I was the background. Then there were the Wallflowers; the people who paled in comparison to these shining, glorious beings. I wasn't the only one, I thought. But they were all just so tragically beautiful. They were just shoved to the side by more talented children but were at least socially adapted. I noticed early on how socially inept I was. I didn't make friends like the other children. I seemed to make myself more of a laughingstock than friends.

That seemed to change as I got older. I seemed to be make friends quite easily. I was sensitive and locked my true emotions away. I became a counsellor of sorts, a friendly face, not a true friend. A friend is one that gives and take but I really just took myself completely out of the equation. I was only able to provide my peers with a smiling face.

As a child, I hung around the SOLDIERs and the wannabes. I seemed to feel at home with them. A melding pot of children slowly becoming this beast, a cog in the greater Shin Ra war machine. I made some good friends, two boys in particular: Angeal and Genesis. They were good kids, turning twelve when we first met. They made quick friends with everyone. But one young boy caught Genesis' eye. I warned that he wasn't one to make friends, a boy out of his league. He took that as a challenge.

Despite the rocky relationship, Sephiroth made friends with Genesis quite quickly. At first I thought that the silver-haired boy was just surrounding himself with Genesis and Angeal to make secret fun, but I saw how his face lit up as he saw Genesis come into the classroom on a Friday afternoon. They seemed to meld together just perfectly.

Genesis would wonder why I distanced myself from them as they spend more and more time together. I knew Sephiroth just wanted nothing to do with me, for some reason. I explained to Angeal how we were actually close as kids, as close as two recluses could be. But one day, as I approached him for our annual birthday get together, he refused to even look at me. Two days before my birthday and I was wiped off the face of the planet for him. I never told anyone, not even Genesis, my closest of friends or Angeal, the most accepting of any person I knew. I just brushed them off, saying that there wasn't a way we could ever be in the same room again, and asked for things to be left as they were.

I left it at that and so did they.

"You okay?" Kathe asked as she slid a drink over my way.

I nodded, stirring the grenadine at the bottom of my tequila sunrise around. It was funny how I suddenly lose the appetite for alcohol and the elated feeling you got as a result.

"I didn't know what to order," she revealed, staring down her own drink.

"It's perfect. I'm just to feeling well."

Kathe understood, she knew I didn't sleep too well last night.

I leaned into the bar as the bartender came around to pick up his tip, "we're looking for someone."

His eyebrow raised, "in particular?"

I shook my head, "a guide, of sorts."

He nodded, stroking his stubbly chin in contemplation. He looked around the quite bar to find his target, "he's usually around this time of the year... Ah, there he is." He pointed to a man the corner, his eyes raised to the television set.

I took a deep breath and slid off the bar stool. He seemed harmless enough. A young man in his late twenties or perhaps early thirties. His skin was tanned and leathery in some patches across his arms. His eyes peered deeply into the television screen; his look not changing as he saw the explosions occurring in Midgar. Cold bastard, I thought, maybe just what we need.

Kathe grabbed my arm, pulling me behind her. She approached the man before me, looked at him for a moment and spoke up, "are you a guide?"

The man didn't move his gaze from the television screen, "not for little princesses."

Kathe sneered, "want the job or not, ass hole."

The man laughed, taking his eyes off the screen to grace us with their attention. "Got money?"

I leaned into the conversation, flashing the brown envelope inside my coat. He seemed somewhat interested, mildly associating the thickness of the envelope with a large wad of cash. "Okay," he said, "its 14,500 Gil upfront."

I shook my head, "its five thousand up front and you get the rest upon completion." Kathe peered over her shoulder, giving me a death stare. She wanted to handle this man herself. She didn't want me involved whatsoever.

The man let a snicker slip through his cool exterior, "you drive a hard bargain. Do you even know where you're going?"

Kathe spoke up, "none of your business. We tell you where to go and you take us there."

"Boyfriend?" Kathe didn't answer. "Figures," his exasperation was clear.

"It doesn't matter. We want to go to the mainland and we want someone to take us. Are you up for it?"

He shrugged, "six thousand up front and another ten when we're done."

"Fine." Kathe fished around in my jacket and pulled out the envelope, counted six thousand and slapped it onto the table, "you just better hope you keep us safe."

The man looked at me, the silent party in all this and asked, "Got an idea to where we're going?"

I looked to Kathe, hoping to interrupt her before she put her two cents in, "Costa del Sol, always wanted to go to the beach."

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I hope it's starting to get interesting! Do review and I will review in return (not out of desperation... well... yes, but I really would like to know what I need work on). Anyone needing a Beta will be glad to know that I do a pretty good job with character development. If you're willing to do a trade :)


	3. Chapter Three: Wavelength Gently Grows

**That Which Lies on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

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**Chapter Three**

**Wavelength Gently Growing**

Kathe was silent the entire way. She watched a step behind as I explained the situation without delving into the matter too much.

"So it is a boyfriend," he chuckled, throwing a glance over his shoulder. He bought it easy enough. I learned how to lie early on in life and perfected the art. No, I didn't steal that muffin. No, I didn't hit that kid. No, I'm not sad. It was easy and simple enough.

"Yeah but it's over and done with." Kathe wasn't pleased that she was on the other of this fib, having to be the helpless little girlfriend, escaping the clutches of her abusive boyfriend.

We found out that his name was Jofrey, he was from Junon, and offered little else. Neither of us asked to delve into this strange man's past but he seemed to respect that by not delving too deep into our issue, though he didn't seem to trust us. It didn't help that every time he turned around Kathe and I were whispering to each other about what was the next move after Costa del Sol. I knew that we needed to think of a way to get Jofrey to trust us before we left Costa del Sol, or we would have to grovel around to find another guide.

"So, the beach, huh?" He wiggled himself between my sister and I, "you haven't been there, right?"

"No, not yet. I mean, I've seen the ocean." I noticed he was looking at Kathe the entire time, so I answered his question for him," "I think Kathe has been to the beach, though." She nodded solemnly, "thought it would be the furthest thing from Midgar for the time being."

"Going to stay there indefinitely?"

I looked to Kathe, she interrupted the situation with a truthful reply: "We'll leave when I say we're ready."

Jofrey's attempt to extrapolate information from us were consistently met with Kathe's blockheadedness. He knew the weakness of our group came from me and that the brick wall was Kathe. Kathe was unwilling for Jofrey to interact with me whatsoever but I refused to let myself be rescued. I liked his smile, as infrequent it showed up and wanted to see if I could ease his trust issues. Kathe didn't seem to care if he left. If that were to occur, we would find someone else. What she didn't realize was that I had little money left to pay for said new guide and the likelihood of finding another guide was very low. We hit the Lifestream when we met Jofrey, and we needed to keep him.

There was a lengthy silence as Jofrey pulled away from us and walked ahead. The night was silent. Oddly enough, there were no monsters in the area. Every few steps, Jofrey pulled out what seemed like a Materia, looked at it for a minute and put it back in his pocket. At times he would adjust his path slightly and continue down the grassland, towards the shore. The shore was in plain view now, the ebb and return of the waves could be head above all else.

Jofrey pointed out to sea, where a boat was gently illuminated by the waning moon. "That's what we'll use."

"And you know the guy who owns the boat?" Kathe questioned his lack of morals.

"Do you really want to know? As much as you would want me to know why you're really out here." He sneered, taking off his jacket. He peeled off his boots, placed them in his jacket and tied a knot to hold them. He placed the make shift bag over his head, and looked over to leave us with his final instructions, "I'll bring the boat closer to shore. You'll need to come out a bit and climb into the boat. I suggest taking off your shoes. It takes forever to get them dry otherwise."

With that he walked out a few steps before wading out, keeping the bag of shoes on his head with one hand. It took some time for him to reach the boat but once he did, he reached up to grab the ladder hanging over and climbed up.

"Kathe, you really need to calm down a bit."

"What do you want me to do Helena? Hmm?" She looked intensely out to sea, the light reflecting off the water flickered in her eyes and said, "I won't lose you again. If he ever threatens that for me, I'll end him."

I didn't want to cause a scene on such an occasion, but truly Kathe did not have the place to make such decisions. She was always unable to let others take charge or trust others to lives. It was somewhat comforting to see that she hadn't changed, after all these years. I needed her here, with me, but on the same team. Not fighting against the man that was supposed to help, especially if she agreed the plan to begin with.

The boat hissed and sputtered before roaring towards us. It came to a stop and Jofrey came to side, swinging his arms back and forth, signalling that it was safe to head out. My sister and I pulled off our shoes and tied their shoelaces together and threw them over our heads.

"I think it's a good time to tell you that I'm not so good at swimming."

Kathe sighed, stopped walking further out into the ocean and turned to face me, "what do you want to do about?"

"Well, I guess there's nothing to do about it. I just thought it would be a good time to point out that I can't actually swim. I can float. Can't swim."

She smiled, "don't worry. It's not that far out. Just let the waves wash over you and use your hand to push you forward. We'll be at the boat in no time."

I nodded and continued walking. Soon, the water reached out hips and then our shoulders. We were unable to walk out and decided it was time to wade out to the boat. It didn't take as long as Jofrey to get to the side. We reached up to the ladder, first Kathe, then I did. I refused to look anywhere but the siding of the boat as I climbed up, a petrification of heights would have made me not ever get this far. It wasn't that high and I knew that if I fell it wouldn't mean death. I reached the top, threw my boots over and pulled myself up. I wasn't very strong upper-body-wise but I made up for that with lower-body strength, and pushed with my legs. I straddled the side, which was incredibly uncomfortable and slipped over into the boat. It was all such an ordeal, but it was finally over.

Kathe looked to Jofrey who was in the captain's cabin, "so, can you steer this thing to Costa del Sol?"

Jofrey shrugged, "I guess. I mean I drove a boat… once."

Kathe shook her head in her hand, a sigh so audible that I could hear it over the load roaring of boat. I walked into the cabin, Jofrey nodding, acknowledging my presence. "So do you really not know how to get to Costa del Sol?"

Jofrey laughed. "It'll take a while to get a hang of it again, but these boats have locator devices on them. Another handy device from Shin Ra." I scoffed. He noticed that there was a correlation between my disapproval and the world "Shin Ra" and took note.

There was a moment of awkward silence before I decided it was time to break it again. "How long do you think it'll take?"

He looked at the gadget for a minute before answering, "We'll be there by morning, I would gather. Maybe this is a good time to get rest in the rooms below."

I nodded in compliance, "Thanks Jofrey. We leave it all to you."

I took Kathe down to the rooms where we found two quaint closet like rooms with two bunk beds in each. We each took to our closet, leaving the door open. We spoke a while about our lives without each other and slowly drifted to sleep without identifying sleep's warm embrace. Soon sleep was replaced with the active state of dreaming.

I was dreaming that I was in a green field. The grass reaching my hips. I was walking through it, my hands touching each blade of grass. I could feel each tip tickle my fingers and palms. I started to appreciate that I was alone in this world of grass. I looked in every direction from my position in this world, but there wasn't a soul to be found. As I turned around one final time, I could see in the distance a small house and a small stream of smoke coming from an undefined point. I called out for Kathe, but she wouldn't answer nor show herself. As I took a deep breath to cry out my sister's name one last time, a cool gloved hand clasped around my partially opened lips. The gloves, I could feel them. The smelt of warm iron, yet felt like cold blood. I tried to scream for help but hand muffled my desperate cries for help.

I woke up. Kathe was already out of her bed.

I slipped out of bed and climbed out of the hull. Kathe and Jofrey were not on deck so I looked over board. Were we captured and I was too heavy to get out of bed? But then I realized what was going on. We had landed, the boat was anchored into a docking station and Jofrey was taking to a local but Kathe was nowhere to be found. I waved over calling Jofrey's name which startled the local woman in the scanty bikini so much that she dove out into ocean. Jofrey shrugged and looked up. He went up to the hull and opened the siding… a door.

I met him down into the hull and we walked out into the warm Costa del Sol sun. I never felt anything so glorious. Jofrey was quite amused with my reaction, I was literally basking in the sunlight, with my arms out and everything.

"Really haven't been out much, have you?"

"Don't judge me." The warmth of the sun and the tranquility I was experiencing, reminded me of my dream that I had the night before which snapped me into reality. "Where's Kathe?"

"She's renting a room." Jofrey noticed the worry in my face and softened instantaneously, "There's no need to worry."

I nodded. I knew he was telling the truth. Why would he lie? But that dream really threw me in for a loop. I looked over the dock, trying to see if the woman managed to swim away or was bubbling up. "Did you get a number?"

Jofrey laughed wholeheartedly. "You know I like a woman who can make me laugh."

I blushed. Was he flirting? You know, I never have been flirting on before. I tried flirting before, but was actually told to stop.

He sobered some and frankly responded, "I was getting some information. Apparently Shin Ra landed here a couple days ago. There was an incident on board."

My eye brow twitched involuntarily, "incident?"

"Yeah," he looked around making certain only four ears were in the vicinity, "apparently they were carrying a bunch of outlaws who apparently ransacked the place."

"Huh," I looked to the helipad, something Shin Ra officials would definitely use. This place, as beautiful as it was, was not safe. We need to get supplies and leave as soon as we find our next destination. Kathe and I had brought up some good places that were suitable but we needed to make a decision a.s.a.p.

"You don't want to stay here," how he read me like a book was beyond me. Perhaps Kathe was right: I needed to stay away from him to avoid any disaster.

"Well, you know, Kathe's boyfriend is a Shin Ra employee, so it's for the best." I blurted.

"You didn't tell me that," Jofrey was beginning to get annoyed with the information that we were withholding. I didn't want to correct myself because, as for the time being, it worked really well for us. I mean, that meant we could avoid Shin Ra now, and for a reason. The downside was that this boyfriend was beginning to have a bigger than reality backstory and I don't think that that either Kathe or I can handle.

I shrugged and started to walk out into the city, avoiding the fact that he was displeased. This was quickly spiraling out of control and, for every move I made that made Jofrey feel move at east, I lost him by taking two steps back. In addition, Shin Ra was actually on the move and we were moving, somehow, in their very direction. We were either going to lose our guide or get caught. Or worse off, lose our guide directly in the mouth of the dragon.

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Another chapter put up :) Let me know what you guys think! I just realized that I'll need to change the rating to M very soon... There are some graphic bits.


	4. Chapter Four: I've Been Screaming

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary**: Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

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**Chapter Four**

**I've Been Screaming on the Inside**

Kathe was arguing vehemently with the patron of a bar. It was always like Kathe to be passionate with whatever she was discussing. But when she became quite violent with her actions, slamming a random glass down so hard its bottom crack, Jofrey grabbed her wrist.

"Let's just leave it alone, Kathe."

"It's Kathelyn, to you," she spat, tearing her wrist out. She dropped the glass, left the man with a parting word and walked out.

Before we could reach the outer edge of the door, an ill-spoken women interrupted us. Apparently she overheard what Kathe had been arguing about with the man and offered a very comprisable solution.

"Man who own bar have room upstairs. You rent? You pay?"

"How much?" Kathe asked before anyone could get involved.

"Not much, not much," The woman looked over at the man at the bar who nodded in her direction, "150 Gil a night." Kathe shrugged and handed her the two-hundred Gil she had stuffed in her coat pocket. The woman looked in her dress and found a fifty to repay her with. She led us to the bar where she grabbed the key and led us back out again to the side door. It was stuffy as we walked higher up but we had a better view of the ocean this way. She led us to a room, unlocked the door and showed us where the wash room was. Check out was the next day at four unless we wanted to stay longer. I shook my head, told her we doubted it, that we were just stopping by on our way to somewhere else. She shrugged and left us a copy of the key.

Kathe looked to Jofrey who was beginning to get comfortable on one of the beds. "Kathe, we knew we had to share a room with whoever we were travelling with."

She huffed, "it's not that." She grabbed his shoulder roughly a shook, "what makes you think you can grab me like that?"

He woke with a start, a death glare shot out from the corner of his eye, "I just didn't want you to stab the poor guy." He adjusted himself after the sudden disruption, his eyes shut close, "why the hell were you so pissed anyways?"

"He didn't want to rent us a room," she replied sheepishly. She knew she overreacted but this sudden surge of sisterly affection was beyond her. She was making up for lost time and no one truly understood it.

"Why?" I laid my hand on her shoulder, trying to easy her out of her panic attack.

She sighed out a laboured breath, "apparently Shin Ra came to him the night before and told him he was harboring fugitives."

Jofrey's eyes shot open. "The people on the boat."

"Yeah, apparently," Kathe nodded, "and he didn't want to risk having his place shut down."

"Why didn't you present him your I.D.?" Jofrey hit the nail on the head. The man was no stranger to running from the law and what would cause some bumps along the way. "Or does your boyfriend from have that many connections?"

Kathe's eye twitched. I lost my breath. There was a minutes of palpable silence in the room.

Jofrey laughed, "Well who wants to do some shopping?" He swing over the side of his bed.

"Don't you need to sleep?" I asked, quite certain he needed to sleep after pulling an all-nighter driving a boat clear across the sea. And, let's be honest, I needed to speak with Kathe about how this was all being driven out of my hands and I was losing control over my own lies. Me. The one who lied to get through life.

"Ah, hell no. I need a sword, is what I need. And you, miss, need something to protect yourself too, if we're not staying here."

I followed Jofrey out the door and Kathe followed suit. We walked down to the market. A large grouping of people massed in the square. People in bikinis and shorter than necessary man-kinis… They had all paired off or grouped and walked around the large turnout of merchants screaming out their goods. Some were Materia booths and I peeled away from my own little group to go and look. They tried to sell me some but I was so deafened by the chatter I could hardly hear what they were saying. I picked up a Materia, I wasn't paying attention to what it was meant to enchant, just looking at the glowing green aura of it. It reminded me of Mako… the Lifestream. Even more so, it reminded me of someone's eyes…

"Fire, great choice for monsters around here."

Startled by the voice, I turned around to face the source. It was only Jofrey, with that charming grin that made my heart flutter. I placed the Materia back down. I wasn't interested.

"Well we need someone who can cast magic, if you're any good." I shook my head. There was no way. He looked into the pile of Materia on display and picked one out, "look, a restore Materia."

I shrugged, "I'm not good at fighting."

"You're sister said something like that. But you know that we'll need someone to support us, if you're _not good_ at fighting."

"What was that?" I wasn't appreciating the condescending tone he was taking with me.

"Everyone starts somewhere, Helena, and everyone has their weakness. I can't cast magic worth shit. Seriously. Your sister seems like she can shoot, which is great, but what if something comes so close she has to attack it head on? Your sister said you are probably the most powerful magic user she knows."

She said that? I huffed. "I haven't even touched a Materia in over ten years. I don't know if I can even conjure anything."

"If I can, you can." He picked up the restore, heal and fire Materia and paid the merchant. I was about to protest before he lifted a hand up, "just promise me you won't let me die out there." I nodded. "Now let's get something a little more protective," he handed me the Materia, which I placed in my pocket ever so gently, as not to set it off.

We spent some time together looking for armour. He would pick whatever he saw fit, asked me to try it on and smiled appropriately. I turned down his multiple offers to provide these little gifts to me and I eventually just paid for them before I tried them on. He seemed jovial, which was comforting. His cold-hearted gaze at the television several days prior made me anxious, although I felt like we may use such a man in our exploits.

He was kind and gentle. I never met a man quite like him before. Mind you Genesis and Angeal never gave me cause for fear or anguish, but they were neither gentle nor jovial. Their lives at Shin Ra never caused them to be truly happy. Sure we had laughs and they had laughs elsewhere, but I knew better; behind each smile were five unhappy moments of surgical procedures, deaths and heartbreaks.

"Hey!" He called to Kathe who was looking at a bunch of potions on sale, half off.

"Hey," she looked at my wrists covered in bangles and bracelets, "someone's having fun?"

I shrugged, swung my arm and hit Jofrey on his side, "all his fault. I think he's afraid I might be a burden."

A silence was hushed over the group. I was always awkward and said the most awkward of things. I knew they were worried I would be in the way or that I may get more hurt than they would. I knew I needed to prove myself in some way.

Kathe flashed me her gun, "not bad right? Got it half off, though I know that's what it's really worth."

It amazed me to no end to see Kathe as this woman. All I could remember of her was the pudgy face (that's not to say, mine wasn't fatter) and her nagging tone. The nagging tone remained and the resolve she developed through the death of her… our father, only became stronger now that I needed her again. Yet, something deep inside me hated her, hated how she managed to surmount her surroundings and in the midst of my blithe, she abandoned all that she promised to hold dear. As if everything were just a lie. Looking at Kathe, I loved her and hated her, for everything she was and wasn't to me, praying this time it would be different.

"Helena?"

I snapped my gaze upwards, "yeah, it's great. I can't believe you can shoot that thing."

She laughed, "A boyfriend taught me."

"The boyfriend who slapped you?" Jofrey asked, feigning concern. He knew the story was bullshit.

Kathe scoffed, "yeah, I would keep fond memories of the boyfriend who abused me." And that was left at that.

The grouping of individuals and couples, walked down towards a staircase that led to the ocean. The sky was becoming pink and the merchants were taking their goods away from prying eyes. A light redness laid over the beige cobble as the sun laid opaque to the sky. It became clear to me that the sun was setting and people were watching the sun set into the sea. Jofrey nudged me some, flashed his smile and asked if I wanted to see the sun set. I nodded in compliance, taking it as my first date, ever. He offered his arm, something I hadn't expected and took it, without hesitation. Kathe quickly hooked her arm into my free one, which I didn't mind. Her claim over me in the sight of what she saw was a threat put my heart more and more at ease.

We walked down to the beach and watched the greatest orb in human history set into the seemingly two-dimensional sea. It was incredible to think that the earth continued on beneath us, uninterrupted. And that the sun was only rotating into the great black abyss above and around. It made me feel so infinitesimal when I considered how many other possible planets there could be, like our Gaia, a planet that could sustain life (whatever that may be), in this limitless universe. And to think, centuries ago, beings knew more of the flow of life had seen life beyond their scope. All this, I could remember in a sun.

The sun disappeared into the horizon and we walked back up to the bar room. I crashed into the bed without another word; this trip was taking everything out of me. I knew they wouldn't talk to each other, but I kept an ear out to see if they would. Funnily, they kind of grunted to each other as they crossed each other at the bathroom door and again at the bed. I chuckled inwardly as I drifted into sleep.

I woke with a start, suddenly feeling the sun on my face. I was looked to the beds and saw that no one was there. A note on the dresser, _out to grab breakfast_. I walked into the shower, deciding to take advantage, having a feeling we wouldn't have this chance again. The warm water sputtered and the cold seemed to cut into the stream in intervals, but I didn't mind, it was a shower. I soaked myself, seeing a bar of soap left by Kathe. A dark shadow flickered on the other side of the murky curtain. I threw open the curtain and settled when nothing was on the other side. I worked back into the stream of water, easing the jolt of excitement, when a hand clasped around my mouth.

I woke for a second time. Kathe was still sound asleep. Jofrey woke alongside me.

"What's going on?" He whispered.

"Bad dream," I whispered back, settling back into the sheets.

"What about?"

"Don't remember."

He nodded, understanding my predicament and whispered back, "it's over now."

No. No, it was only beginning. The dreams, they were making that clear.

* * *

Thanks for my very first review from WolfGirl1129! As for the rating, it's going to increasingly become difficult as I progress due to some adult themes that will evidently pop up. I will try my best to make them not so apparent, à la Final Fantasy VII.

Thanks for AstridClaire for my first follow! I hope I won't disappoint!

I hope you guys continue to read and offer your ideas/criticisms so I can make this story even better!

P.S. - for those of you who enjoy a fanfiction without a plot hole, please don't point out that if the sun sets in the ocean by Costa del Sol, that would mean it sets in the East. For all I know, it does on Gaia. And to make it a cute scene, it will.


	5. Chapter Five: Thought of Failures

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary**: Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**Thoughts of Failures Sinking**

There were at least fifteen Shin Ra troops and maybe another five Soldier at the port. A line was being made of pilots and boat owners who were trying to escape the sudden inquisition. Kathe went up the line, trying to see what going on, Jofrey was speaking with the bikini woman from yesterday who, in an act of serendipity, ended up behind us. I quietly stood alone, watching Kathe swinging over side to side. I couldn't hear what the women was saying over the commotion, only bits and pieces of what Jofrey was saying, but it sounded flirtatious.

Kathe came back, a worried frown on her face and announced, "they're checking everyone's I.D.'s"

"You mean the I.D.'s you don't have," Jofrey joined the conversation.

I knew this I.D. situation was going to cause us an issue but it wasn't like we could waltz right back into Midgar, where every sort of depravity seemed to exist, and the one we needed existed in abundance.

"Why are they keeping people from exiting Costa del Sol?" I asked.

Jofrey shrugged, "apparently they're looking for an important dignitary."

"That's a big word," Kathe snipped.

Jofrey chuckled, despite the clear insult. He was getting increasingly better at ignoring Kathe's tough outer shell and accepting she had a soft, gooey center, somewhere. "Well it's what she said," Pointing to the bikini babe. "A Hobo? Hodo? Hoko?"

"Hojo." Kathe corrected.

"Right. Apparently he defected and is in Costa del Sol."

A sudden anxiety washed over me. I grabbed Kathe and turned her around, "we need to leave the fucking boat."

"What?" She asked in complete confusion.

"We can't stay here, we need to leave… Now!"

Kathe seemed still confused but she had followed me so far and wasn't willing to let me go. She turned to Jofrey who looked at us, a little perturbed that we were sharing secrets amongst each other again. Kathe nodded to me, accepting our situation, whatever that may be.

"Jofrey, we need to leave the boat." I peeped.

Jofrey pulled the group aside, "leave the boat?" He looked around, "you're hoping we can go by foot."

"The only chance we have is to leave out by the grasslands. There's no one there." I guessed they didn't want to waste their energy looking for a man that had no way of escaping Costa del Sol by foot.

Jofrey agreed solemnly, blowing a single kiss to the boat that drove us this far.

"Sorry, Jofrey." I apologized wholeheartedly.

"Meh," he sighed, "it wasn't my boat anyway, as you both know. I was so jealous when I found out they hired him instead of me to ride planes. So, this was pay back. I was just hoping to keep this little gem a while longer."

"You stole you're friend's boat?" Kathe scoffed, "all because he got hired by Shin Ra to pilot some planes and you didn't."

I laughed, placing the key into the lock. Jofrey seemed like a simple man, I never knew him to by so petty, as well. Even though Kathe seemed less than amused by his thievery, he gently explained that he would tell him about the incident. The man wouldn't care if it meant that he was at the service of two beautiful women. Of course that didn't easy Kathe, not one bit. She packed louder, angrily fitting her clothes into her pack and tossing in potions as she went along.

We quickly packed and got out before check-out. Kathe went into bar to leave the key and Jofrey instructed me to stay by the door while he picked up a couple more Softs, seeing as we were officially going by foot. I sat down on the cobble road, propped up by the sandy wall, watching two Shin Ra guards walk down the path to join the other guards at port. They were discussing something curious, something about my dear friend, Hojo.

"How can you be sure?"

"Hojo asked Kevil, himself. Drilled it out of him."

"I can't believe it. Shin Ra said he was dead, he's dead."

"I don't know man…"

"Ready to go?" Kathe interrupted my snooping. I snapped up and nodded, pushing myself to my feet. She looked around, "where's Jofrey?"

I was about to explain that Jofrey was off to buy more Softs when he literally poof-ed out of nowhere. He quickly blurted that we needed to rush out before the Shin Ra caught up with him again and ask us for our I.D.'s. Apparently two Shin Ra Solders were tasked with I.D.-ing people and were working themselves in our direction. He managed to slip out of a group that was collectively being I.D.-ed but that proved as an idiotic decision as the Soldiers noticed what had occurred.

We jogged out of Costa del Sol, slipping in and out of gatherings of people to try and blend. Sooner than later we managed to get out without a further incident. From the shores of Costa del Sol, the grasslands were totally different. It reminded me kind of like home.

Jofrey voiced his concern that we wouldn't make it far enough, so did Kathe. I knew they were referring to me. Jofrey pointed out into the distance, a mountain range. Within its cavernous sides, laid a rather safe path to Corel. Kathe asked what Corel would do for us that staying in a monster-infested hole wouldn't. Jofrey made a point that no one would bother going into Corel, it was a ghost town and it was a way of getting into Gold Saucer.

Kathe smiled quickly before Jofrey turned around. It was too late, he had seen her enthusiasm. As Kathe pretended to be a tough-ass, she was a kid at heart. Her father had brought her to Gold Saucer at least twice. She loved thrills and lights flashing her blind. So did Jofrey apparently, he listed the plan for the week that we would spend there. He didn't accept anything less than a week of excitement and relaxation. And the likelihood that someone would kill us at Gold Saucer was really unlikely, because it was the happiest place on Gaia.

"What makes you think they want us dead?" I questioned his worrisome reasoning, the mountain suddenly in reach.

He just elbowed Kathe, which didn't make her any more jovial. It was amazing that we didn't meet any monster on the way to the path, but the seemingly peaceful pathway to Corel was riddled with creates I had never seen before. Jofrey consistently pushed me to the background and Kathe took my place. She was quite steady as a shot, knocking aggressive birds down between their eyes. Jofrey was quite impressed too.

"What is it you do?" Kathe looked to Jofrey.

"Pardon?"

"Well, we hired you as a bodyguard but I'm doing all the work." Kathe was pleased. She felt empowered, it was noticeable in her stance. So, it was clear that Jofrey wanted to let her open her wings and see how far she could fly on her own. He was clearly comforted by her ability.

The way to North Corel was lot with battles. And I found out Jofrey found with a short sword. I stayed in the back, casting the occasional restorative spell. Jofrey would holler for me to use the fire Materia but there was no way. I just couldn't bring myself to even put it into the bangle. I knew it would have been beneficial but every time I reached into my pocket to get it, after Jofrey cried out for a spell, I fumbled and casted a simple cure spell instead.

We passed through the mountain and on the outskirt of a Mako reactor. North Corel was near, Jofrey assured. I knew he had to be right. I heard the stories of how Mako reactors appeared and how certain towns and villages who opposed, even with the slightest of disapproval, even attempting to form a union, they were all crushed without so much as a whimper. It amazed me how no one stood up to voice their concern… but then again, I worked for Shin Ra for years, disapproved of their methods and still said nothing. I rather play dead then fight against a conglomerate like Shin Ra.

North Corel appeared past a string bridge. It was sullen. Even the people were sullen. It was a dust bowl; nothing more than a mixing pot of old metal, dirt and grief. I knew something happened here. So did Kathe and Jofrey, as they said nothing. An elderly man approached Jofrey questioning his intentions.

"Just going through. To Gold Saucer." He answered, not wanting to upset the man who was clearly disturbed with the introduction of new faces.

"Sorry kiddies," the elderly man said, "just some folk ran through here like a tornado. Take your time." And with that, he hobbled to his tent.

We didn't pry. It wasn't our place.

We went to the cable car station where the man apologetically refused our money. We couldn't have picked a worse time to want to go to Gold Saucer. The cable cars ever only went through a series of maintenance cleanings and changing of old parts once a month. And it would take five hours before she was ready to run again. Jofrey crumpled the money and handed it back to me, swearing under his breath.

"Well it's not that bad," he said through clenched teeth, "we need to get some supplies before we head in. I want to try my hand at the Battle Arena and I'm not about to waste good Gil on Gold Saucer potions."

Kathe's interest peaked at the mention of the Battle Arena. She used to tell me stories of our father gambling away good money and always winning it two-fold. She wanted to see if she had her father's luck in her. I suggested looking into some better armor and handed her a good sum of cash. She protested but I told her that any winnings she brought in, half would be split with me. She agreed.

We walked back into North Corel, the stench seemingly stronger now. Jofrey wanted to upgrade his sword. Kathe wanted to see if they "had something" for our wager. I was exhausted… again. The dreams were interrupting my sleep patterns. I walked up to a woman who was leisurely smoking a cigarette and asked where I could sleep. She pointed to a large building, up a ways and said nothing more. The woman pointed out a large building where you had to climb to reach it, using a series of old signs and metal polls. There was a man sitting on the side of the large building. Talking aloud. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me but I wanted to ignore him, badly.

"Ah, whatever, that's what the guy in the black jacket and the silver hair did."

I snapped. I looked over to the man, flashed a smile, "man?"

"Yeah. A blonde kid seemed interested in him too. Got a tattoo just like him." He was clearly inebriated.

"Do you… know where he went?"

He shrugged, burped and slumped forward. "Gold Saucer, I guess. That's where everyone goes." And with that he slumped a little too forward, passing out in a loud snore.

I walked up to the man, looking at the tattoo he referred to previously. A one… The man was dead… I was going to leave it like that.

I walked into the building, paid the man who was kind enough to leave me some privacy. I climbed into the closest bed, flopped forward and threw the bag onto the floor. It was only a matter of time before my eyes clamped shut.

It didn't take much time to start dreaming. I feared it was turn for the worse, but it was quite pleasant. It was a memory. One of the company dance parties. I hated those things as an adolescent, they forced the Academy kids to attend, mostly to keep the Soldiers company, even though the girls were five or six years their junior. I was always left to my devices by the drinks' table that we were refused to partake in. I learned though, that drinking was so much fun and it was even more amusing with fools like Genesis and Angeal. But they were nowhere to be found… and I was much older than that awkward little pest. I looked up to the band… I suddenly remember what I was remembering.

I suddenly had the urge to leave. I needed to leave. I grabbed my coat and left the gathering. I escaped down the stairs to the large gathering of cars. It was cold. Frigid, even. An inch of snow laid on the ground and small flakes were drifting down, a completely rare occurrence. I cut through a row of cars, I would catch the last train to the Slums if I had to. When suddenly a cold hand clasped around my neck. I could feel my breath escape my mouth. I tried to scream for help, but nothing came, only a hand clasped to my mouth.

And I woke with a scream.

Kathe sat in the bed next to me, her eyes welled. There was more than sadness, there was fear. She held open her arms and I took her offer. We held there for a few moments before she pulled us apart and looked me in the eyes.

"You have been having these dreams since we left Kalm. Don't think I haven't noticed."

I said nothing. I couldn't bring myself to tell her. To explain to her what was going on. This was something only I could experience. Something I expected to bear on my own. Even if I did tell her, she couldn't possibly understand. And that would cause her infliction, as she saw she could not help me, no matter how hard she tried. Even worse, I fear that there would be a moment when she would not be there, she would leave me of her own volition, and I would be on my own. I needed to stand alone without the help of either a paid bodyguard or a half-sister, in every sense of the word.

"I'm fine." I sighed, "Just anxious about everything. It's clearly catching up to me."


	6. Chapter Six: I can't Help

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary**: Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**I Can't Help That Everyone Else Can See These Scars**

We took the cable car over to Gold Saucer. The view of Gold Saucer from the car was enchanting. It was my first time at the famed Gold Saucer, the one from Kathe's childhood stories. She went on a ramble of how she wanted to go on every ride, like she did as a child with her father, and even wanted to try her hand at Battle Square. This threw Jofrey into a ramble himself, his eyes glimmering with the prospect of easy cash. I sat back, watching the two _children_ feed off each other, until I noticed fireworks in the distance. I was so incredibly fearful of the heights we were zooming at, but the fireworks were the things that kept me grounded in the moment. The moment, this moment out of all possible moments.

"Beautiful right?" Jofrey leaned in from his seat across me, looking out to the firework display.

"Mmph," I agreed. We locked gazes for a moment. It was peaceful looking at his big brown eyes. They accepted things in life, more than what needed to be accepted. He was kind, though people thought of him as a goof, a flake and a loser. But I saw things of a human being that I never saw before. Someone willing to fight despite the fact that he ought not to.

We decided that it was best to get a room and leave our stuff when we arrive. Which was just what we did when we arrived, after paying our expensive tickets. Surprisingly enough the sight of the bed did not make me want to embrace its warmth. Jofrey was increasingly getting antsy about the Battle Square arena and the extra cash he desperately needed, because, and I quote: "this trip is getting too fucking expensive." It was nice to think he thought of our excursion as a _trip_. But Kathe wanted to at least ride one ride, the Gondola, before heading to the square.

"But we just took a Gondola into this place." Jofrey made a good point.

Kathe smiled, "this one's for the sister." She took my hand and led me out of the Hotel. She instructed Jofrey to wait for her and not kill anything until she got back, all with her firm, no nonsense tone which sounded incredibly ridiculous.

We climbed into the Gondola, something that looked suspiciously like the cable car riding into Gold Saucer. I pointed that out and Kathe said she got the point. We chuckled and got into the death trap. The fireworks popped again in the distance as we rode higher up into the night sky and looped back around the mushroom-shaped dome that was Gold Saucer. A colourful display of said fireworks appeared as we approached the show; a large portion of the dome was opened to allow theater spectators to watch the display.

"I wanted to make some new memories." Kathe said after a significant amount of time spent in silence. I turned over to face her. She was absorbed in how I beheld her gift. After some time of being silent again, she said, "I missed a lot of your life. I don't want to waste more of it by talking about the past and I know you don't want to drain yourself by drudging up old wounds. But, having you here now, has made me realize I have no memories of you." She shuffled over, placed her hand over mine and laid both gently on my lap. She looked out to the scenery, whispering gently, "I want to think about this time, every time we come through hardships."

A sudden wave of emotion washed over me. Anger, pain, sadness and… fear… confused into a singularity and welled into a weeping cry, a cry without sound just a heaving of the chest, painful and sudden. Tears rolled down as I took my free hand and brushed them away. Kathe tightened her grasp on the other hand, her shoulders jerking up and down, as she too cried in silence.

I couldn't hide the pain it caused me to lose the only person in my life. The first time I saw her in over seventeen years and she was a mess, her disheveled bun, her crooked lab jacket… she arrived in a breathlessness that proved to me that she hadn't change over those many years. I so wanted her to be different, someone who had weathered over the years, someone who I hoped to place trust in. But she was there, unchanged and still my sister.

I said nothing to her and neither did she. We looked at each other for what seemed an eternity. I wondered, did she have anything she wanted to say to me? Did she want to apologize? Did she regret what she did? Did she think of me at all over those seventeen years? I dashed away the vanity and we escaped the Shin Ra facility Hojo locked me away for those dank months. She grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes and she took me away from Midgar.

And now, we were here.

I had to give her credit, she did take me where she promised to take me: far away from Midgar. She kept me safe. She kept me sound. And she promised never to bring up the past. She even tried to catch up on my life and we shared in our awkwardness. She wanted badly to be forgiven. I knew that.

"I forgive you."

"What?" Kathe snapped up, her teary eyes looking at mine as we began our descendent back in to the Gold Saucer dome.

"I… forgive you." I repeated this time, more hesitantly, not sure if she ever wanted to be forgiven in the first place after her reaction.

She smiled sadly. "Thank you." The Gondola stopped. "That's all I ever wanted."

We left our moment in the past, brushed off the emotion and walked to Battle Square. Of course Jofrey was pacing the entrance of the place like a madman. He shouted animatedly, something about us taking too damn long and shot up the stairs. We followed, laughing laidback, not a care in the world, as if nothing had happened. It was exciting, though I had no skill to fight. It would be amusing to see Kathe fight, that's what I was most hoping to see.

They both registered, though it was one-at-a-time fashion of fighting. Suddenly, I was anxious. I thought that Jofrey would be there to support her. She wasn't a seasoned fighter. I didn't want to alarm her or throw off her _game_. There was a greater chance now I would have to tend her wounds well into the morning. But she seemed so confident and bubbly. Jofrey seemed impressed with her so far. So, all in all, I said nothing to no one.

Jofrey went first. The first few were embarrassingly easy which I screamed, from the spectator booths, could be a trick to lull fighters into a sense of false security. Jofrey raised his short sword for another round, knowing full well he was going to be pitted against harder and tougher monsters. They did come, harder and tougher. Some were swarms of monsters that would throw Jofrey around the battle ring and make him lose his focus. The shouting from the crowd did not help matters but somehow, he managed to slay them, one by one. Excitedly, the crowd cheered for his success but we cheered loudest. Even Kathe seemed in red in the face with the forceful screams she was emitting.

Jofrey got to the last beast, his chest heavy, his fast plastered with sweat and his cropped hair sprinkled with blood. The cheers of the spectators settled as the great and fabled owner, Dio, walked on a podium amongst the spectators. They went literally nuts even before he uttered a word, but they knew it had to be good. Jofrey's ear perked up and so did ours, as Dio announced the coming of a new beast. The Behemoth. One from his prized and personal collections. A beast that has been entered into a hundred fights but none has slayed him. Would Jofrey be the one? We awaited, our fingers interlocked, as the beast stalked its way out of its cage. It roared and the crowd's silence erupted in a fervency, arms being thrown about, and shouts of various profanities heard from even the daintiest of women.

"I can't look!" I told Kathe, hiding my eyes as the Behemoth approached Jofrey.

Kathe hungrily took in the fight that was about to begin. "You're going to miss a good one, Helena," she promised, a twinkle in her eye could be seen from in between my fingers.

The Behemoth howled in pain and I shot up. Jofrey hit him! Fresh blood strewn on the battle ring's brick floor. Kathe threw her hands in the air in victory, crying out profanities along with the other people. I watched as Jofrey shifted around the ring, his sword out, between the beast and the man. He was tired and the crowd knew it. He could run into the corner and call it quits, but that wasn't Jofrey. The Behemoth lunged with a paw, swiping him clear across the ring. A sudden hush went over the crowd. Kathe leaned over the railing, screaming a string of encouragements. I just hoped he would call it off and walk away while he still could.

But no, he stood up and the crowd threw their arms in support. He twirled his short sword and then pointed it in our direction, as if to say, this swing was for us… for Kathe's encouragement. And with that act of bravado, he sliced at the beast's face, causing it to stagger backwards, exposing its neck. Jofrey saw his chance, and he stuck the blade into the furry neck, a spray of blood over his face. He lost his blade, he was defenseless. The Behemoth lunged forwarded, I screamed in fear but it laid forward, dead.

The crowd applauded and bawled with glory. He won. He was presented his money and gifts by Dio and three lovely ladies and was ushered out of the stadium. We met him in the lounge. He was disgusting but we still gave him a congratulatory hug.

"Best gift," he snickered, which was followed by Kathe punching him in the side. This made him double in pain.

"Kathe?" The front desk called my sister.

"Why don't you just take the man to our room? We can't have a prissy-boy who can't take a punch," she instructed.

"But, what about your fight?"

"Don't worry," she assured, "I won't go in over my head, like this idiot." Jofrey was about to protest but could barely breathe given his condition. I left Kathe with some words of encouragement, told her I would be back as soon as I set Jofrey up and picked Jofrey by his belt.

Jofrey leaned heavily on my side as we hobbled to the pipes. We quickly arrived to our room. I leaned him on the wall to unlock the door, while he heaved in and out for air. I wasn't surprised if he broke a rib. I helped him into the bed and took off him boots when I saw he was trying to flick them off. He thanked in his weak voice as I pulled out my restore Materia from my bangle. I placed my hand over his chest and casted a cure spell.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you're ready to cast a Cure 2," Jofrey said, a sign he was getting better.

I smiled in response, placing the Materia back into the bangle. I went into the bathroom and started the shower, letting the water run. I walked back into the bedroom to get Jofrey, who was certainly ready to take a shower, as I could see him take off his shirt right in front of me.

"Umm," I called out nervously, hoping to remind him that I was still in the room.

He turned and smile. "That really did it," he said, running his hand over his taunt abdomen, showing me that his tenderness had gone.

I nodded. "Please don't take this as an invitation to take off more clothes, but I can help you into the shower."

He laughed, noticing that I was quite timid by the sight of a man's nakedness. "No worries," he said gently, placing two hands on each other my shoulders, looking straight at me, "I'm not going to take my clothes off unless you want me to."

I nervously chuckled, letting a few words snake through, "you're nuts, you know that?"

"Just go and cheer on your sister. For the both of us. I need to get Behemoth guts out of my hair before I can face the world." He walked a few steps to the bathroom before turning around and asking, "Did Kathe actually cheer me on?"

"Yeah." I saw his mouth twitch into a smile, but not his charming smile he would flash as a defense to everyone he saw. No it was a smile of fondness, of sweet bliss, of something more than we shared.

I walked out of our room and down into the lounge. There sat two familiar sights, sights I did not expect to see here, of all places. I walked back to the door, hoping to slip into the room without startling Jofrey and would just explain that I caught something viral from the food we ate. Unfortunately, Kathe would have to go at it alone. But I was interrupted. The two men sitting at the table, drinking, were now walking up the stairs after one of them had seen me and recognized me immediately. I felt a tap on my shoulder, I begged for it to be my sister, but I knew it wasn't. I turned my head slightly, accepting my loss.

"Helena?" I said nothing. "C'mon, it's Reno! And Rude's here too. Can't believe it's been five years, you know?"

I turned around, all smiles, "Reno, can't believe you're…" I looked between them, their faces were actually genuine. "You're not here for me."

Reno looked quizzically to Rude who returned the look with a blanked stare. "I have no idea what you're talking about." And then suddenly it clicked. "Oh you mean your escape! Nah, we're not here for that."

Of course that's what they would be telling me before they slapped me over the head and brought me back to Shin Ra. But the look on Rude's face was telling. He was a stone man but he did tell things in his eyebrows, Genesis once told me. They weren't after me. But I knew if I hung around and let Tseng find me, it would give him reason to lasso me up and bring me in for some "Shin Ra" justice.

"What brings you guys all the way out here?"

Reno let a snide smile sneak out while saying, "You really think we'll tell you that?"

I shrugged in reply. "I'm not looking for some secrets, Reno. I'm honestly wondering if you guys are out on vacation."

Reno elbowed Rude suggestively before responding, "Wish we were. But seriously. Just wanted to let you know a little something. Consider it a quid pro quo."

I was highly suspicious of his intentions. But I knew Reno wasn't a bad man. He was a man of integrity, who did things that needed to be done, for a company that was known for doing horrible, and ill-fitting deeds. I accepted with a simple nod of the head.

"There's a lot of movement. As we speak, Tseng is heading down to the Temple of the Ancients." He leaned into me, and spoke with a whisper, "you know what's there. And who's there."

"What do you want for this information?"

"That's not it, calm your Chocobos. Hojo's been moving around a lot too. Right now, Shin Ra is busy with a larger threat than Hojo's experiments running around, unless you count Sephiroth. I'd worry about Hojo and his goons snatching you."

"How do I trust you?"

Reno smiled. "You know that I'm right."

I knew he was right. Hojo would be more interested in me than Shin Ra ever was, especially if he defected. That would mean, he was operating on his own agenda. I needed to recalculate my plans.

"Now that I've offered you all this gold," Reno said with a satisfactory grin, "I need you to tell me what's in the Temple."

"You already would know that. Why do you need me to tell you?"

"We've heard rumours. But we need to know for sure. And who better than the file that shows up with the search query: Temple of the Ancients."

"If he gets it. He'll use it. It's the only thing that can truly destroy this world. If you've heard stories about its existence, then know, it's real and the he knows it to be real."

"What's in the Temple?"

"The Black Materia."

* * *

We get to learn of Helena's past! I usually wait a little in between chapters but I have this one done.


	7. Chapter Seven: Want you to Stay

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Want you to Stay**

I eagerly awaited the possibility of an escape. I took off to the hotel room as soon as I saw them walk back down the carpeted stairs and out to the door. The key did not fit the first time, nor the second. It took some time before I could but the key into the lock, my hand trembling with excitement and fear, my breath still curt and laboured. I turned the knob and leaned into the door, slipping in through the crack. I closed the door, ever so gently, frightened that somehow it would set off some sort of assault on the room. I leaned on the door, focusing only on my breath.

Jofrey was standing in the bedroom, fully clothed, his arms crossed and his face strewn with dismay.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I should be asking the same," he responded, sitting on the bed and tying his boots without saying a word. This went on for a moment. I didn't know what he was saying.

"I really don't know what's going on, Jofrey," I interrupted the silence finally, as he stood up, his boots tied and his outfit complete.

"I saw you with those suits." He stood up, facing me now. "They were so damn interested in what you had to say. You know it makes sense now, every time we needed to leave, it was _you_ that made us go."

"Jofrey, look –"

"Don't," he cut me off before I could try and explain myself, "I don't need more lies from you. What's the worst thing about all this is, I trusted _you_ the most. I trusted _you_."

"And you can still, Jofrey," I pleaded, "just please let me explain," I begged that he would listen to what I had to say.

He looked away from me, shaking his head. "I want nothing to do with this anymore. I didn't ask anything more than what I needed to know to make sure I would be safe enough to protect you. But now all that is a lie? Do you know how much danger you put us all in?"

"Jofrey, I did it to protect both you and my sister."

He sneered, "The Turks found you."

"They weren't after me," I offered as some sort of condolence. I walked into his line of sight, trying to match our eyes together. He attempted to look away again but I followed him again. I wasn't about to let him escape me just yet. "Please don't leave," I begged, "we need you. I need you. I can't do this alone… I asked Kathe to save me but we're not enough, we need you."

He looked up to see that I was indeed crying. He couldn't see a woman cry, it went against his nature. He wanted so badly to escape from this mess he had gotten himself into. But he knew he had to give me one last chance to explain myself, give me one last chance to convince him that his life was not in considerable amount of danger.

"Tell me why I should believe you when you say I've made a good choice working for you. Tell me why the Turks were here, Helena."

I looked to the floor, shuffling my feet slightly. "They were here on a separate matter," I explained, "I did lie when I told you that you were meant to protect us from Kathe's abusive boyfriend. It's not her boyfriend who works for Shin Ra, its Kathe and I, until she helped me escaped from a hospital. I was kept there against my will."

The information processed slightly in his mind before he looked at me, shook his head solemnly, turned on his heel and walked to the door. Tears welled up further in my eyes and began to trickle down my warm and damp cheeks, dampened already by sweat. With his hand on the door handle he turned to me and said that he couldn't work with such a lie. Before he could leave, I whimpered for him to stop. He stopped, not willing to turn and face me, knowing I was crying now.

"Please," I cried out, hoping he would wait and see. I pulled off my jacket and threw it onto the floor. The sound of something soft hitting the ground made him turn around. He said something about this being very inappropriate but I asked him to wait. I turned so my back faced him and lifted my shirt, showing him my one and final secret.

It was a tattoo. A tattoo I received as a rite of passage from my mother who was a long time descendant of Cetra. Long ago, she explained, her family received the rite from an Elder and ever since then, it had been in our family. I was her first born and was tattooed with a series of Cetran incantations, incantations that were of great interest to many evil people, people who wanted to destroy the world. Shin Ra was interested in gathering information about the Lifestream, trying to understand what power they had unlocked with their Mako Energy pumps. Only one girl remained. Unfortunately, it was assumed that I was one too. It didn't take long before they realized the genetic well that made some aspect of me Cetran dried up long ago. But with my time in Shin Ra, I met people that have some to understand what power this tattoo can hold and would want nothing more than to behold it.

"I need you, Jofrey, to protect me. Please. I know… I should have told you before. But, if I did, you wouldn't have come. You are strong and capable. And we will keep each other safe, I can guarantee that. I don't plan on getting caught. Please."

I put down my shirt and turned to see Jofrey had already gone and I was alone.

I stumbled to the bed and sunk into it. No matter where I went, who I tried to place my hope and aspirations in, I was being abandoned. No… it mattered what I did. I was the nexus of what I had created for myself. In the panic of finding companionship, I drove people further and further away. Genesis, Angeal… I loved them like they were my blood of blood, a limb from my flesh. But when I loved too much, they slowly drifted away from me and into this dark place I was not permitted to enter. And then they died.

I curled with the pillow, smothering my face to silence my weepy cries. I pulled my knees to my chest and huddled in for a cry. A knock came and went at the door. I did not move. A key slipped into the keyhole and the doorknob turned. I could hear Kathe sigh at the door, what a sight she had to deal with. She came into the room, closing the door behind her. There was a small space, a cove for her to sit and she did, rubbing my back in a gentle circular motion.

"What happened?" She asked, apologetic of the situation I was in.

I turned my head out of the pillow to speak, tear still running down my checks. "He saw me with the Turks. Somehow they found me… but it was okay, they left me alone. And he, he," I sniffled back a tear, trying to sound more coherent, "he left. We're alone. I… lost our bodyguard."

Kathe let out another tender sigh. "Don't worry, Helena. We'll figure out something. We always do." She lend into me, placing her cool dry cheek with my wet warm one, whispering directly into my ear, "and this time it'll be us, together and I promise I will never leave you."

I nodded against her cheek. She pulled away and stood up from the bed. She asked if I wanted to see her prize. I had completely forgotten. I sat up and asked her to tell recount the fighting in detail. She sat in the bed opposite me and did just that. It was a heroic account. She didn't spare any of the gory details. The man that finished before her was quite impressed with the feat. We laughed when I asked her if she asked him for his number. It took my mind off of things for a while before there was a knock at the door and a key slipping into the lock.

Jofrey came into the room. Neither of us said anything. He pointed to his bag in the furthermost corner of the room. "Forgot my bag," he explained.

I shrugged and turned away as he came into the room to get it. He stopped half way through his trajectory and turned to face my bed. "I was going to come and just get my bag," he began to explain, "but then I realized something: I accepted that she was running away from an abusive boyfriend and then an abusive boyfriend from Shin Ra. I think it was more the lying, than the actual lie itself. But then I met your sister." I looked to Kathe who smiled at me. Jofrey continued with his speech, uninterrupted, "She explained how you were locked away as a child and all because of what you have on your back. And I thought how wrong that was. But, I wasn't helping it any by leaving. I want to help you, Helena, if you'll let me."

I turned over and said, "We'll have to deduct something off your pay."

He laughed and smiled his charming smile. We agreed and shook on it. I asked him to not promise to abandon me again, knowing that was much to ask for a stranger, but I wanted a dismissal clause in our agreement. He agreed, "Let's just say that when it comes to it, we'll come to an agreement about my dismissal."

We were clearly famished. There was a stark division between going out and staying. Mostly Kathe wanted to go out and both Jofrey and I wanted to order in room service. I told her there was no difference, just the scenery, but that's what seemed to be the issue. There was a four star restaurant above the Event. I looked at her dumbfounded, there was no way I was going to a restaurant dressed like a vagrant. Kathe glanced at me, up and down, whimpered slightly and accepted that we couldn't possibly get in in our current state. I offered the possibility of grabbing authentic carnival food and catching a few rides before we left. This perked Kathe right up.

We went first to the Speed Square, Kathe wanted desperately to try the ride since it hadn't existed as a child. Jofrey joined suit in her excitement, he had heard the rumours of its intense speed and that you had to shoot at full three-dimensional holograms. I did not share in the excitement. I was petrified of heights. There was absolutely no way they were getting me into something that went that high and only offered a metal bar as protection. Thankfully, a young woman, whose friend did not want to join her on the ride accepted to take the mandatory third seat.

I waited on the side, wondering what Kathe could possibly say to get Jofrey to stay. A couple of scenarios ran through my mind but it was soon interrupted by Kathe and Jofrey's presence of the platform. I saw them laughing, jostling each other around, saying how much this place had changed since their childhood. Something much of happened to solidify a bond between them, Kathe would have never let Jofrey touch her like that, not that he wouldn't try.

We agreed up going to the Wonder Square next, to grab a quick meal and try the carnival games. Kathe went on and on about how amazing it was, something she wouldn't have expected in her life time. I teased her slightly, calling her a child, which she found endearing and embraced me with a strong arm. Jofrey offered his first gift of the night, a nice meal of total junk. Kathe didn't bother taking half her food before bolting up to the second floor.

"Does she act like that often?"

I smiled, I was about to say that I had no idea. I hadn't seen her in years before I asked her for some help in escaping Midgar. "Oh yeah. When it comes to Gold Saucer, I guess, who wouldn't." But it came out wrong.

We followed her up to the fighting game out in the back. She was failing miserably, using up out cash and cursing like a sailor. Jofrey was shouting out instructions but it wasn't helping her much, she would just shoot back that she was doing exactly that, and as she would turn her head, she would lose. Jofrey stepped up to the platform, giving a more hands on approach. It was working, she was winning round after round. I watched as they both seemed comfortable with the proximity of each other. They looked like an old couple.

I stumbled slightly backwards, a sudden dizzy spell vice gripped my head. My food wasn't going down and an itch began to spread on my back. I tried to scratch my back but I couldn't reach where it was needed or it wouldn't offer enough relief. Soon my back felt as if on fire and my knees started to quack from the pain. Jofrey saw my face change and was becoming concerned. He asked if I was okay, stepping down from the platform.

"I'm fine," I said, looking up with a brave smile, "I think I'm just allergic to something. Maybe something I ate." Which made no sense seeing as I had no contact reaction.

Kathe stopped her game and walked over. She went over and grabbed at my shirt, trying to lift it. I ripped her arm away. I wasn't about to expose myself in public.

"Maybe its bed bugs," she offered as a possibility.

I shrugged. I needed them off my back, literally.

"Well, let's see what it is back at the room and see what the pharmacy has," Jofrey explained to Kathe, hoping she would agree. She nodded with gusto, grabbed her coat and got ready to leave.

"No," I stopped them, "it's not worth everyone coming down. Just, you guys have fun, make my money worthwhile." I smiled, as real as I could fake it.

Kathe looked at Jofrey, and then back at me. She didn't want to risk something happening to me under her watch. I explained that it was probably sand in my shirt form Costa del Sol. I would take a shower and change and then meet them wherever they were. Kathe was still reluctant.

"If anything happens, I'll just get the front desk to find you." I assured Kathe. That finally reassurance locked her. I really didn't want to expose myself in front of two strangers. Although I adored them, they were but strangers to me and my situation. I walked out of Wonder Square and bolted to the Hotel.

I ran up the stairs to the door, banging into the door. I desperately fumbled with the key, jamming the key so many ways, I was sure I broke the lock. Finally it opened and I rammed myself until the door swung open, letting me inside. The violent act let me in but hand me tumble onto the floor where I kicked the door shut. I tore at my clothes, item by item, trying to liberate myself from the stiffing heat that took over. It did little to help. I pushed myself off of the floor and sauntered into the bathroom, the world so unstable under my feet. I sank myself into the sink, trying to get a better view of my back from the mirror above the sink. The black writing was puffy and lifted from the skin at least an inch. The skin around it was pink and hard and burned. I threw on the cold water hoping it would cool the skin and open my airways. The water poured and in an act of desperation I fell into the stream, back first. I howled in agony as the water did little to help the pain. Each little droplet felt like a tiny sliver entering my skin and then being sliced out. The pain was so unbearable, it took me to my knees. Slowly the world became dark and I fell, head first and slumped to the floor, unconscious.

For some time I was out. I knew that much. Exactly how long? Well, no one can tell you how long they pass out for. I was beginning to come to, I could feel it. Sound was coming back as I heard the shower tap twist shut. There were footsteps around me and then someone came down to the floor and picked me up. Two hands grasped my shoulders and slowly turned me around. A hand cupped my head and brought it up to their chest. I felt warmer, more secure. It had to be Kathe. She must have come back to make sure I was alright and had found me. Was I strong enough to open my eyes? They fluttered open, once and twice before I noticed I was in the arms of someone, my head resting on what felt like leather and silver strands of hair tumbling from the top of a head I could not see.

Every ounce of air escaped my lungs, my body froze up against the cool feeling of leather against my flesh. The thought of danger being imminent stole my sense of comfort. There was a shift in the body, as he noticed I had stiffened in an instant. I gathered my strength and pushed with both arms and a knee into his stomach. That wasn't nearly enough as I found myself on the cold, wet floor, smashed to the ground and pinned by two arms. I came face to face with him. I twisted and shouted in fear, lifting my knees up and trying to give space between us. In an act of zest, I kicked upward, throwing him off guard and one arm got free in the scuffle. I bent my arm at the elbow and jerked it upwards, knocking him start into the face. Two hands went up to his face and I took the chance to run.

"What the fuck is going on!" Jofrey screamed in confusion as we collided at the entrance to the bathroom.

I grabbed his jacket with an arm, the other splayed across my bare chest. I screamed a series of profanities, telling him we needed to well, that he had found me. Jofrey's face changed as he saw Kathe come out of the bathroom, a small towel held to her nose. It was a mixture of comedy and dumbfoundedness, but the result was that he went to Kathe and saw what happened to her nose. I grabbed at the closest towel, looking at Kathe and wondering just what the hell happened.

"Someone really hit their head," she mumbled under the towel, "so hard you started to hallucinate."

Jofrey looked over, I was just livid, he laid a hand over my shoulder and guided me to the bed. I didn't understand. I apologized over and over again. Kathe understood and didn't want to take any apology, it wasn't my fault. She sat beside me, taking off the bloodied towel and showing me that it had stopped bleeding. I apologized again, it must have been some blood sugar problems, I offered as an excuse. I started to question my entire sanity, wondering what day was it, where I was and if this was a dream.

Kathe said nothing but held me. She grabbed me and pulled the towel closer around my body. For some time, we were silent and Jofrey just watched, with a kind smile on his face. Kathe broke the silence.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," Kathe apologized, "if you ever ask me to leave you alone while you're sick again, I'll tape your mouth shut."

* * *

Thanks to WolfGirl129~! For the multiple reviews. It's what's keeping this fanfiction goin' ;) Working on more chapters so if anyone is interested in previews or Beta-reviewing, pm me :)

**Edit 13-10-17: Edited a revised version of the summary and because it's in EVERY chapter, I had to redo each chapter. Sorry for the annoyance! **


	8. Chapter Eight: Can't Help Looking Back

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary**: Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister Kathelyn. they find a bodyguard, the fabled Jofrey. It soon becomes clear that Helena is hiding more than both Kathelyn and Jofrey bargained for and a danger even greater than Shin Ra erupts.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Can't Help Looking Back**

The boat's motor gagged on the water, taking in more water than it should, making the boat jerk forward and testing our patience. Another pull of the string had the motor running, sending the boat into the ocean. Jofrey made certain the boat would hug the shoreline without going too close and without going too far. We looped around the coastal region of Gold Saucer and went south to loop back up to Nibelheim. Occasionally, Jofrey would ask if we were okay, not taking his watchful gaze off the azure waters that surrounded us on three sides, the third side being the changing shoreline.

I kept myself busy by fiddling with the bangles on my wrist; I knew I had to update the ones I had. All three hugged tight to my wrists, but I was able to twist them around, looking at the Materia I equipped. Before leaving, Kathe had given me some of her prize Materia, an Enemy Skill and an Elemental one. I accepted my role as the Materia holder. They had no way of using these orbs, these tools of war, just as much as I could not use a sword or a gun.

I watched as Kathe was looking out into the continent, watching as the scenery changed from topping cliffs to sandy beaches. It was a matter of time before we would arrive at Nibelheim. She was surprised when I sat them down after we had ordered breakfast, fearful of what may await us outside our room, wondering where to go next. I explained to them about the very real possibility that a certain Soldier of Shin Ra may still be alive after all this time, that the General Sephiroth was most likely still alive. Jofrey showed more emotion than did Kathe, whose face remained impassive. When I told them that Shin Ra was hording old documents, documents I needed to arm myself against this threat, neither of them asked anything further. That very afternoon, Jofrey met with Dio about a hover craft to get over the fast moving delta, a piece of machinery he knew his old buddy had for that very reason. Unfortunately, he gave it to another group of adventurers. He did offer us a boat, however, and as we were beggars, we did not choose our mode of transportation. I found it funny that we got another boat, from another one of Jofrey's friends.

Kathe did not say a word nor did she share in my joking with Jofrey. She packed our things into the boat and hooked the thing to a Chocobo-driven carriage, the last of Dio's gifts. She seemed morose about the experience. Jofrey tried to talk to her but was rebuffed for his efforts. I tried joking about the "nice desert weather" we were having, she smiled and looked the other way.

"Everything okay with her," he spoke into my ear, warding against the high oceanic winds that were passing by, watering down our words.

I shrugged. I knew she wasn't pleased with the fact that I hid this from her for so long. She knew that I knew that he was alive since Midgar, and the fact that I did not share with her valuable, crucial information, information that was meant for _us_, tore at her. She understood then, when I told them that the silver-haired man was alive, that I did not trust her to behold the information. That I would rather have that burden on myself and watch as they continued on, without the shadow of the possibility that this may be the day we were all caught. After that, she said very little. She just took to her tasks, stocking on potions and other things. She then finally broke the silence by looking at me and handing the Materia she had won and the Materia she bought in North Corel. _"I forgot about this," _she said, _"at least, you won't have to use the fire Materia, anymore."_

I wanted to talk about some things that were left unsaid by her sudden disappearance as a child, but knew it wasn't the place nor the time. The mere fact that she would think of the anxiety a fire Materia may produce in me and how she noticed I had not touched it since Jofrey bought it for me, made me realize many things that allowed for these unsaid things to remain unsaid, for now.

It took some time before we reached land again. Jofrey jumped out, the water splashing up until his knees. He pulled the boat up onto the shore and helped each of us off the boat. We grabbed our packs and headed out to the small cluster of houses in the distance, between the dips of the two mountains. There was much to be said about the sleepy mountain village, nestled gently in the Nibel Mountains. Nibelheim. There was much more than appearances. Then again, when it came to being involved with Shin Ra, everything was much more than face value.

We reached the first building: an inn. Kathe stopped for a moment without saying a word again. Jofrey and I looked at each other, a stupefied look mirrored onto each other's faces. She turned slowly, her mind clearly elsewhere.

"I think you guys can handle the Shin Ra Mansion alone," she said, her eyes fixated somewhere in the distance, "I need to do something before we leave town."

"You need to do something?" I asked, skeptically. It wasn't Kathe's job to _do something_. That tended to be my thing. "You're being pretty cryptic, and it's freaking me out."

She smiled, her eyes drifting back to the current time and place. "We just need to hurry up, make sure we leave as soon as possible and not stay in one place for long," she said, a vague repetition of what I had said back in Gold Saucer before we took off.

"We're not leaving without you," Jofrey insisted.

She smiled kindly, "you guys are fine without me. If the Mansion were overrun, it would have been locked up. We need to hurry and leave this place. I just need to gather some materials and make a call to someone, that's all."

"A call?" I questioned the secrets she was withholding from us.

"I'm allowed to have my secrets." It was a clear jab at the fact that I hid from her some information.

I dropped my pack on the ground and turned to leave. I wasn't having it. If she was going to have a hissy-fit because I hid from her information that would have made her bolt out the door before I could place a period at the end of my sentence, then I wasn't about to hang around and let her blame me for it.

Jofrey followed suit, as I marched up to the mansion, like it was my duty. He hollered at me so that I would stop but I didn't. I didn't want to listen to Kathe. I didn't want to listen to her boyfriend, either. Finally, though not long after, he caught up to me.

"Shit," he cursed, taking two steps ahead of me, "why is everyone so pissy? Is it something I said?"

I laughed. "I guess it's the environment," I noted on the current location of choice.

"How do you figure?"

"Well, it was burnt to the ground almost five years ago." There was a twinkle of interest in his eyes, but a frown of disbelief; so I continued my story, "Five years ago, a team of Soldiers and Shin Ra operatives were sent to Nibelheim on a mission to restore a Mako Reactor to working order."

"I heard of this story," he said, "but tell me the part about a whole town being burnt down and the fact that it's still standing."

"Well, you must have heard that the primary of this mission was Sephiroth and that he was killed when he came into contact with a rebel unit. This just simply isn't true. He died as a result of his actions that day. He choose, in light of some comprising information about scientific experiments preformed on him, to burn Nibelheim. All in hopes of attacking his primary goal, Shin Ra."

"So, the General of Shin Ra burnt a village?"

"And killed its people."

We locked gazes for a moment until I placed my hand on the door handle and turned the knob. We were quite surprised that it opened and watched as the door creaked open. We entered the stuffy mansion. The air was filled with dust and the smell of mildew. Some light trickled in from the dirt-covered windows up on the second floor. The first floor windows were covered with bug-eaten sheets. Cracks and scratches could be heard from all corners of the huge lot, definitely overrun by monsters. Panic pricked at my fingers and legs, also stole my breath. Jofrey noticed I hadn't breathed in some time and came to softly pat me on the back.

"Where should we start?" Jofrey asked.

"I honestly don't know." I answered. I never been outside of Midgar as an adult.

We decided to try the back and see if it were worth the while. We found a sitting room, riddled with monsters. Little tiny pumpkins dancing in the air. And a mirror. Yes. A mirror. We slowly crept back into the adjoining hallway and tried the next rooms, on the other side.

"Why did he burn the place?" Jofrey asked as I looked through the cabinets.

"He found a biological sample in the reactor. This biological sample was said to be his mother."

Jofrey, propped up by the wall, stood up right. "Seriously?"

"Yes." I answered truthfully, there was nothing I was willing to hide for Shin Ra's sake, anymore. "It wasn't. However, the sample was used in countless experiments on Sephiroth. The man was a product of countless attempts to understand this enigmatic creature that somehow produced the superhuman we know as the General of Shin Ra's Soldier, undefeated… that is, until he came across someone that did not like what he did to Nibelheim."

"That doesn't explain how Nibelheim is here now."

I went up a set of stairs that led me to a small storage room where several trunks lay strewn on the floor. I proceeded to check each and every one, leaving the unlocked ones unbothered and tearing through the opened ones. As I looked through the contents of the opened ones, I started to realize there wasn't much to be seen. Old clothes, candles, a pipe, envelopes of tobacco… I placed my hand out for Jofrey's short sword to double-check but jimmying open the lock. I was right, nothing.

"Shin Ra rebuilt it. Piece by piece. As an experiment."

"And you know all this because you're a scientist? What the hell did you do? Clinical drug trials on kids?"

I chuckled at the notion. None of us were far off from that despicable implication. "Cognitive neuroscience," I replied, stepping up and out into the hallway with Jofrey.

"And Kathe?"

I knew how much he was falling for her. It hurt. "Molecular biologist."

Jofrey went on ahead to clear a path. The monsters were thick in this area. I followed. I had an ice Materia, after all. There was one of those pumpkins as he swung, I casted an ice spell. It still stood. Before it casted again, Jofrey took his short sword and stabbed it between its eyes. He explained that it would have casted silence if he would have let it. He seemed glad that I was more proactive in attacking. I explained that as a scientist, you didn't get the chance to fight.

We climbed the main staircase to the second floor. The monster activity seemed lessened by our own activity downstairs. We walked to our right first, seemingly the logical thing to do. When we walked into the bedroom with the open door, we noticed that the wall was missing a slab. We approached cautiously, worried that the ancient manor was giving in to the pressures of time. Jofrey leant over into the hole and I followed next. A spiralling staircase went down into the basement, or what could be the basement on account of the stinky fog that rose from the moist ground, or what I assumed came from the ground. Jofrey took the first step, toe first and then his full weight. He grabbed my arm and guided me down the stairs that had no railing. We were successful at working together, as he calmed my nerves each time I heard an unnerving crack.

We reached the bottom without incident and met a tall beast of pasty beige flesh. Jofrey begged for me to use the fire and again I shook my head, he had to live with the ice. We went at him, ice and a stab to the side. Soon the… thing was thwarted. It was disturbing that these things existed in this place, especially what we just say. The thing had two heads, joining or splitting, it could not be comprehended! Jofrey didn't seem fazed by the experience I had.

We tried a door and found it to be locked. We walked down, further back, a thin strip of light seeping through the bottom crack of the door. Hesitantly, I took the doorknob into my hand and pushed. It swung to reveal the basement secrets of years of scientific conquest. There was a hush in Jofrey, a hush that said fear and disgust. The Mako Infusion Pods stood beside the medical operating table, something similar stood in Dr. Hollander's laboratory, a site I was all too comfortable with. But I understood how other people could find this scandalous.

I went straight to the books. Trying to get my bearings on what could possibly be contained in these multiple bookshelves. There were a multitude of topics. Everything from Ancient history to the current Jenova cell theory. I tried to hunt down Jenova across the sea of books. Some even were across the desk in the back room.

"What are you looking for?" Jofrey asked finally from the other side of the room.

"With all these questions, you better answer all of my questions." I looked up from the documents on the desk. But I was going to answer his questions anyway. "A particular doctor liked to take vacations in this mansion. I hoped he wouldn't be around. Apparently he's more interested in me than Shin Ra is or ever was. So I decided to read why he came here."

"Dr. Hojo." Jofrey deduced.

"Yes." I answered. "Now, answer me this: what did you do before becoming a bodyguard?"

Understanding it was a fair trade, he answered, "Well, I was a naval officer for the Junon division. I decided to follow in my brother's footsteps. That ultimately got me into trouble as my brother defected just after the war. They thought I knew where he was but I refused to tell them anything, so they dishonorably discharged me from the army. After that I was forced to strip."

My eyebrow shot straight up, "strip?"

He let out a robust laugh, "yeah. I would be lying if I said that's all I did. Not proud of it. But I did it for my family. My father was disabled. My mother died when I was young. After my brother left, I was the sole breadwinner, while everyone else was getting started."

These little tidbits of information from Jofrey were becoming increasingly interesting. I mean, he was a good looking man and I have seen people with lessen reasons stoop to deeper lows. "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"

"Two brothers, one older and one younger, and a younger sister. My brother is gods knows where. The other one is living with my sister in Junon, making their own families," he offered on his own. He sat onto the desk, peering down into the books, "now it's my turn for one: do you think that Sephiroth is alive?"

I took a book in my hands, waving it around. "This says he is." I stood from the desk, taking the book with me. "I need to get to Kathe, I'll explain everything when we get back to the inn."

As I passed him by, Jofrey grabbed my arm, stopping me for a moment. He stepped down from the desk and observed the shifting in my eyes. "Kathe said he did something to you. You know that we're here to help."

I wrenched my arm out of his light grip. A solid fake smile on my lips. "He didn't do anything, no matter what your precious Kathe says." Jofrey was quite mystified by my words. This place was truly making me crazy and acting out of my normal range of neurosis. "I'm sorry," I apologized, "I can't believe I said something like that."

Jofrey nodded, accepting my apology without another word. "I was starting to think you never got angry."

* * *

**A/N: **Will be going over this chapter on a later date. If anyone is interested in doing a Beta, please don't hesitate to pm me. Until next time!

**Edit 13-10-18: **several typos and grammatical errors fixed. Not all... I've got no skillz...


	9. Chapter Nine: Another Corporate Show

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister, they seek out the aid of a mercenary. But soon they will have to worry about something much greater than Shin Ra on their tail and find that Helena has secrets that may put the world at risk.

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**Another Corporate Show, her Guilty Conscience Grows**

Kathe was standing atop the stairs. She placed her PHS unit in her back pocket and welcomed us from our trip. She informed us that the owner provided a continental breakfast, despite the fact that it was clearly the afternoon. It was assumed that she felt bad for us, looking at Kathe carrying out our bags to the room assigned to us on the second floor and felt like she needed to offer some sort of act of kindness. Kathe took it, being the beggar travellers we were as of late. I explained that I had found the sought after treasure trove of scientific documents in the manor. Jofrey pushed by without a word, somewhat disturbed with the new reality of the world that was presented to him in just a short while.

"So you found what you were looking for?" Kathe asked.

"Yes," I responded, showing her the book I took as proof of my conquest, "we need to discuss the particulars." The more time I spent thinking about my past, the more I began to sound like my old self: the woman that built herself from a meek child, into a distinguished scientist. It made me feel less like a hindrance, a bother. And the words that came out of my mouth just didn't seem like what I was accustomed in saying after I had lost my job.

Jofrey was already in the room, eating the sandwiches prepared by the innkeeper. Kathe sat down on the bed, her hands folded on her lap, her eyes hooked my every movement. I decided to stand as I presented our current, and very real, situation. Kathe was attentive and prepared to accept what I had to say. Jofrey had been stuffing his face and did not intend to stop as I cleared my throat.

"As you both now know, I was a Shin Ra scientist." I began by saying what was now obvious to both my sister and the man whom I hid our true origins from. "For years I worked as a glorified secretary: transcribing doctor's notes, putting data through a computer… until I met a man who saw me as a potential partner. I was gathering data for a doctor that took me under her wing and she introduced me to the great Dr. Hollander. He was impressed with my skill set and decided to put me on a task."

I handed the book to Kathe who read the title intently. After some time she spoke: "Is this what you worked on?"

Jofrey's interest peeked and he turned around from the plate. The fact that both of them were watching me brought about an anxiety that was all too common. I hated being watched so intently. I hated that Kathe was judging me with her squinted eyes.

"Yes," I answered Kathe's question finally. "Although I had no idea what I was working on. Hollander had me taking care of rats that I injected with a serum based on the DNA of a biological sample that was classified. We were trying to manipulate the genome of the rats. I was, then, supposed to keep a journal on their behaviours. They did little of anything. Most of them died. It was only until we injected them with Mako that their attrition rates decreased. When he was fired, I was instructed to hand over the project and all of his documents to the now head of the scientific department: Dr. Hojo." The name left a sour taste in my mouth that made me gag as those two syllables slithered out.

I composed myself and continued, "He wanted me to deliver the specimens personally to his lab and I did, knowing I had myself beat. He was going to be my boss and I was going to be his bitch." Jofrey choked on a piece of sandwich and Kathe sneered at the fact he found that remotely funny.

"As I left the specimens in the laboratory, I had seen something I had never seen them do before. They bashed themselves in their cages, smashing their faces in until they died. Some even ate themselves to death. I… couldn't believe what I saw. But what frightened me the most was the look on Hojo's face when he saw what I was seeing. He… loved it. As I walked out of the lab, I noticed someone looking in."

"Sephiroth." We looked over to find where the answer came from. It was Jofrey. He was catching on.

I nodded solemnly. "Yes," I validated, surprised Jofrey was the one to say anything. "I knew little about the project until I came across documents on Hojo. The man was a busy bee. But the majority of his interest was on this biological sample named Jenova and his pet Soldier."

Kathe stood up, the book still in her hardened grasp. She placed a hand on my shoulder, her fingers encircling my rotator cuff. She pushed the book into my chest. I took it, fearing she would drive it through my heart like a steak. She then took her seat at the table, her legs joined at the ankles and her hands folded neatly on the table. She calculate her movements, her thoughts ticking away violently behind her composed exterior. She looked at her fingers gently tapping before she spoke, "so what now?"

"We have one more asshole on our tail." Jofrey answered, without a moment's hesitation or a thought behind it.

He was curt, which made Kathe snap her head up in surprise. She had just realized how constrained she seemed to us. She looked to each of us apologizing, for nothing in particular and turned to face me. She gave a smile, a smile that reminded me of the good old days when all of this was a deep seated secret in my mind. I sat down in the chair next to her and held her hands. She accepted the contact, adjusting the touch so her hands were above mine.

"This is nice and all," Jofrey started off by saying, "but I still have no idea why he would be after us."

I shifted my weight in the chair to face Jofrey. "My ancestry lies somewhere along the Cetran bloodline. Shin Ra showed interest in me because they thought I would be worth something to their experiments. They found that I was only something short of 1% Cetran. But what was of interest was the tattoo on my back."

Kathe's grip tightened, her breath hitched. I decided to continue, to place these hideous words into the atmosphere, "The Turks came to me to say that he was in the Temple of the Ancients. There is only one thing there. A Materia capable of destroying the entire world. And there is only one of two ways to sing the incantations: you are an Ancient or steal it from the Ancient birthright. That's what my tattoo is, it's only the incantation to the Black Materia's ultimate spell: Meteor."

There was a profound silence. The secret I hid from them was deepening each waking moment and became this entity that was beyond comprehension, even to me. Their eyes became distant and I could not read either one of them. I questioned my previous actions; though my motive was true, I had done something terribly wrong by hiding this possibility for the world from them. The world could fall from beneath their feet and this little known fact lay in the shadows. They could not understand that I chose to hide it from them when they offered to stand by me.

"I…" I started but could not finish. The words could not come. I wanted to explain that I was apologetic, that I only had the best of intentions and these intentions were to keep them safe. But the words did not come.

"You don't have to say anything." Kathe said, "We'll be here, regardless."

I looked to Jofrey. His head bobbed, not quite sure what was going on but he was signed on for it. The only issue that remained was the issue of where we would go next. Jofrey suggested Gongaga, somewhere on the continent, considering the boat we had acquired. Kathe had another idea in mind.

"We need to go to Icicle."

"That's on the Northern Continent." My geography was off but I was sure it was way out of the way. There was no way our boat could make the trip.

"I know," Kathe spoke softly, "but there's something I think you should see."

Jofrey spoke up finally, "there is the issue of the boat, you know."

"Yes," Kathe agreed, "but we need to try. We managed to come this far and people go out to the Northern Continent in worse."

Jofrey finally caved. He just needed to plan the route out. It was agreed finally that the town of Icicle was our next destination. I had the sinking feeling like Kathe was switching roles with me, hiding her secrets as poorly and accepting our silence as a cause to continue.

Jofrey decided that there was only way one to get there and that was with a topographical map and a careful eye. He was no ship's captain but being a naval officer proved to be useful in our current predicament. He wanted to see if the shop, just next door, carried what he was looking for.

That left both Kathe and I alone in the cozy room. If it were a different circumstance, it would have been my dream vacation. A nice getaway in the mountains, with a book and a fireplace. I never had the opportunity to have a fireplace in the vicinity. It completed my vision. Kathe asked me what I was thinking about and I had told her about my dream vacation, if I ever had the chance to take one, she understood Shin Ra's policy. She seemed to play along, telling her own idea of the ideal vacation, a beach vacation. If only she could have enjoyed Costa del Sol as she should have. We didn't even get to swim. My current state of affairs left me realizing that I had not escaped Shin Ra, at all.

Kathe went to the window, her arms wrapped around herself as if to comfort herself against the troubling news. She closed her eyes, feeling the few light sunrays on her face. Finally she spoke, "I feel like I can't protect you anymore."

It was true. I made it so none of them felt safe. Though they tried their best to protect me from the world that, for some reason, wanted me dead, they couldn't possibly. It was selfish to believe they would continue on, in my honor, until the broke.

"Maybe it isn't to protect me anymore. Maybe it's to do our due diligence to this world. We have information that no one else has."

Kathe's eyes opened and she turned a quarter of the way around, just to look at me from the corner of her eye. "I was hoping you would say that." She said, "I was calling someone I knew when I was working with Shin Ra. I worked with Gast for a short time before he died and his lab had always been filled with stuff about the Cetrans. The one thing I remember hearing was the Black Materia."

I looked up. It was like it was meant to be. Some cosmic forces came together to arrange us in these specific places in our lives. It was a mystery that Kathe knew about the Black Materia before I had said anything. "How did you know—?"

"Before you told me?" She finished my sentence. This was becoming far too eerie for me. She slowly turned over to face me. "The last Ancient knew about the Holy Materia. I thought I would tell you too. Seeing as you have been _so_ telling."

It was like I was plummeting to the depths of fear. There was nothing normal about this conversation. The only question for me was when did I fall asleep?

"It's too late, Helena. I've found you."

I couldn't understand why I wasn't waking. I tried shaking my head, pinching myself, but nothing would wake me up. And my sister was approaching me in a manner that screamed a nightmare. I called for her to stop, that I needed to wake up and repeated for her to wake me up. She let out a chesty chuckle that rattled in her throat. I turned to leave, to escape this nightmare, hoping I would wake up. But as I grasped the door, a gloved hand wrapped around my mouth. I tried to pull away and scream, but a solid arm wrapped around and ripped me from the door. I twisted and turned, letting out muffled cries against the leather-clad fingers.

"Sh, sh," the voice spoke softly in my ear, making my legs quake in fear, "you don't want me to snap your neck, do you?"

Tears began to roll down my cheeks. It was the most vivid of dreams and I just couldn't escape from its grasp. He seemed to enjoy the fact that I was crying, the fact that he could instill such fear in me. He held me close, moving his hand higher and higher, until it covered my nostrils too. I tried to gasp against his tight grip, but there was no way. I tried shaking him off, move my head out of reach but he was far too strong.

"It didn't take me long to find you," he whispered colloquially in my ear, his breath grazing my ear lobe, "but once I did, I knew I had to see you. It's been so long."

Slowly, the lack of oxygen made my head feel like it were underwater. I prayed that I wouldn't let him kill me here. I wasn't going to die here. In a last ditch effort, I yanked my body forward, throwing him off balance and his hand dropped a centimeter below my nose. I gasped, the air rushing in of its own volition. He grabbed my throat, lifting my feet an inch above the floor before driving me back down across the room. I landed on the bed post, it digging into my ribcage as I sunk to the floor. I could hear his footsteps draw nearer from behind.

"You don't need to do this," I begged, completely out of breath. "You don't need to do this, Sephiroth."

He scoffed. "Do what? Kill you? I told you not to say anything, and you did anyways."

His hand landed on my shoulder and tore my around. I was face to face with man who would end the world. He knelt down, his hand on my shoulder lifted to my chin, seizing it and tearing it upward so our eyes would meet. He let out a disarming smile. But there was nothing comforting about him.

"Don't worry," he reassured, "I won't kill you, yet. I still need you. You're going to help me destroy this Planet."

"What makes you think I'll do what you say?"

"Because you're doing and will continue to do exactly what I want you to do."

He stood up from his kneeling position and turned around. Against the wall his famed sword rested. He took the hilt and shaking what seemed like blood on the blade. In one fool swoop, the blade landed in my between my breasts and lodged halfway down the blade. The blade cracked into the bones and slipped through the soft flesh. I took the blade in confusion.

"Wake up."

And I did just that.

There sat Kathe at the table reading one of the books that lay around. Jofrey was not back yet. It seemed surreal from where I just came from. It was calm and Kathe seemed completely unaware. It appears as though I didn't even let out a whimper while napping. So looked up, hearing me rustled and smiled.

I knew that what lay in the shadows was real and that I had to protect those that mattered to me, for the sake of those I could not protect. But I wasn't enough. Could I really be more of a risk than a protector?

* * *

**A/N:** A lot of dialogue going on. Not my favorite chapter but now we're starting to get an idea of what is going down.

Thanks again to Wolfgirl! And Ultimolu for the very helpful reviews! It's come to my attention that my dialogue tags suck and I agree wholeheartedly. Hopefully I'll come back to that and fix them.


	10. Chapter Ten: Her Guilt Conscious Grows

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister, they seek out the aid of a mercenary. But soon they will have to worry about something much greater than Shin Ra on their tail and find that Helena has secrets that may put the world at risk.

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**And I'll feel her Guilty Conscious Grow**

Kathe and Jofrey took the lead. Both were silent. Soon they would escape the sleepiness than hund over this town and the nightmares it bore as it slept. After my quick nap it seemed like I would never sleep again but the tiredness had not left me. I lagged behind, shifting my pack from shoulder to shoulder, trying to get comfortable before the long trek out to shore. My back ached, my chest was shore… all near his supposed stab wound. It was the strangest dream I had, by far. The most real. I had never felt pain from a dream that continued on until the next day, it was cognitively impossible. The complexity of the dream made me consider his words: should I take them as a threat? Or were they just anxieties seeping through in the form of this violent creature that I had known him to be? I would have been ill if I would start thinking that I was having premonitions. They were scientifically proven to be false. And, by the gods, I was a woman of science, damn it!

Kathe wondered why I was so far behind, that I should catch up before something got me. I laughed at the thought. Come so far to be killed by some beast. It was no joking matter, as Jofrey reminded me. The man was far up head. Jofrey was tinkering with his Materia again, looking at the glowing orb and then adjusting his pace, stop and then adjust his path. A random monster appeared in the brush and Jofrey cursed. Kathe approached it and shot it, straight between the eyes. She was becoming proficient at her shot… something I hope would come in handy.

We loaded up the boat, pushed out into the water and started the motor. Jofrey pointed out on the map where we needed to take the boat. We needed to loop around up north, stay in shallow waters and we should be fine. Jofrey looked out straight into the horizon without saying another word. Kathe sat up in front, nestled in the hull for a quick nap before we landed. I was wide awake despite the medication coursing through my veins. They doped me for so long, it would take time before it ran its course. I held the map up for Jofrey as we looped around the northern strait.

The air was fresher and small ice particles hung in the air. We came across some icebergs while on our trek. It was freezing. So cold that Kathe woke shivering and took three shirts to cover herself. She took me in her arms, rubbing my extremities. Jofrey, somehow immune to the change in temperature, stood to navigate safely across the gathering of ice.

"Are we there yet?" Kathe asked between the clatter of her teeth.

Jofrey nodded. It was then I noticed his body was trembling a great deal and he refused to speak so we wouldn't notice. We were close, the air warmed tremendously and land could be seen in the foggy distance.

He embarked the boat and jumped out again to push the boat into the sandy coast. He let out a whimper when he realized that the water was still cold in these parts of the ocean. Kathe jumped out too and helped him pull it in, reducing his time in the frigid waters.

"Won't be doing that any time soon." He joked passively, shaking off the icicles forming on his pants.

We took our things and walked up the beach to a gathering of tents and men with pickaxes. They seemed preoccupied with the ground, hitting various locations and then moving along. It seemed insane. Jofrey approached a man by the largest tent, asking him directions. The man turned around in his seat, pointing upwards. "You gotta go through the Sleeping Forest. You can bypass the Forgotten City but then you need to scale the mountain wall at a higher point and head north." He sat back down, a morose look on his face. "Lucky for you a group of folks already opened the Forest…"

Jofrey turned around and started to plan our trek into the Forest and beyond. "We'll need to get into the forest. We'll agree not to go through the Forgotten City." His sternness made me not want to say anything but it truly wasn't my intention to spend time in a archaeological site overrun by monsters... again. "Before climbing the mountain, we'll rest and then head to Icicle in the morning, making the best of the sunshine seeing as we're unequipped for the north."

We agreed and headed into the dead forest. Thin, white branches sprawled out into the darkness, whispering tales of a people long passed as the wind passed through them. It was unnerving at first to hear the incessant rustling above and around, and yet not know exactly where it was coming from. It took me a while to realize it had been the demon trees that stood around us, they creaked and moaned.

As we progressed into the forest, the sun extenuated and was instead replaced by some eerie green glow. It lit our path well but did little to light up the deep, dark corners of the hell whole we found ourselves in.

All of last night's Ancient talk had me in a head whirl. I found myself in the Sleeping Forest, a long hidden location and I was walking on its moist earth. Was I really providing myself with information about the future? I hoped that Kathe could offer some information into the situation seeing as we were going to the Icicle for that exact purpose. But then again, that was all in my dream, Kathe had not told us the reason for our trip north… had she?

I was about to ask Kathe the all-important question at the moment when I was interrupted by Jofrey. "We'll be camping out by that stream for the night."

There was a small gathering of water that seemed to empty out further down south and evidently came from the mountains we were trying to get to. Jofrey seemed to understand that fact and was planning for our march the next day. We dropped our packs and knelt to the stream, guzzling the crystalline source water. As I took another handful, Kathe noticed something behind my ear and attempted to remove it.

"Oh," She exclaimed when she realized she couldn't remove it because it was a tattoo, "Its mom."

I was surprised that she didn't notice it beforehand. "I have dad on my ankle."

"How did I not know this?" She asked it more to herself than to anyone else. I chuckled about the things we didn't know about each other or Jofrey, for that matter, could fill a book. We laughed together, though it was a sad kind of laugh.

Jofrey and Kathe took out the tent and started to pull the pieces out. They began to chatter and joke with each other like old-time chums, completely excluding the world from their little gabfest. It was insulting to see that I hadn't even stood up to help them and they had already turned their backs to me. I decided on another task, something to make myself useful than pity the connection I clearly could not make.

"Where are you going?" Jofrey realized I was walking out into the gathering of trees again.

"I'm going to get some wood. We need fire, don't we?"

Kathe shook her finger, "Hell no, miss. You're not going alone."

"I'm not a child," I scoffed, hands somehow ending on my hips. I had to gently place them down, a tacit understanding of how childish I looked. "I just need some time alone, Kathe. I can't have people idly following me all day."

"You're the one who want us to protect you."

I waffled around, "I know, I know. It's not to protect me, it's protect what I have. But were so far away from anything, I don't think there's a danger. I mean, it's just to get some wood."

"And she'll stay in ear-shot," Jofrey stepped up, "right?"

I nodded in submission. Kathe was unsure. She did not want me to be unarmed. She offered her gun, something I never thought I would touch. She gave me a crash course: the safety, the trigger… I figured if it came to it, I would either scream or remember the particulars out of panic. Kathe seemed slightly more comforted, she knew she had to let go someday.

Jofrey stepped up and handed me a Materia, the Materia he had used during our entire journey though I did not ask him why he used it or for what purpose did it serve.

"It's an enemy detect Materia. It reduces your encounters by telling you if enemies are in the area." He continued to explain that it lit up as an enemy approached and that it took time to detect enemy encounters, but that in the area it was probably not necessary. "At least it will get you ready for an attack."

I graciously took the orb and placed it into one of the slots on my bangle. I quickly saluted before walking down the path we came and then up into the wooded area. There was little downfall from the trees. Although they appeared like meek sticks, they apparently could withstand significant amounts of weathering. I picked up what I could find, going deeper and deeper, ignoring what Jofrey had set out as a rule. I was so into the path I had set for myself: far away, that I almost missed the crackling sounds in the distance. I snapped around. Nothing. But the sound continued, growing in intensity, like some sort of struggle. A sudden panic swarmed in and I hightailed it to our campsite. I hadn't gone as far as I thought as I saw both Jofrey and Kathe in a matter of minutes.

"I said we can't," Kathe proclaimed, what seemed like another time to Jofrey. Both their clothes in a thither. I stayed in the shadows, watching the drama unfold.

"Why not? Because of your sister?" Kathe's eyes were casted to the side, superficially ashamed and yet Jofrey continued. "I love your sister, as much as you do, I would think. But there's nothing between us," He seemed to get more and more animated, approaching Kathe, touching her arms gingerly. "I… when I look at you, I want to see what we can be."

Kathe shook her head, "You barely know me."

"And you hardly know me," He seemed surprised that this was an issue, "you're point?"

Kathe mulled it in her head for a moment. She was hungry for it, for the touch, embrace of a man. This man gave her more than any other man had given her. Perhaps it was sign to give into her carnal desires for the moment being. She never asked herself these fundamental questions before, why know?

In a moment, their arms intertwined and their lips met. My heart sank like something as beautiful as a kiss sealed by fate: the lonely wench. I stumbled up and worked my way back into the forest. It was disappointing but expected. I had to stop feeling so sorry for myself. I strolled by, tree after tree, everything looked the same. I had to understand that I was more amicable to people and this prevented me from being romantically involved with people. Was it a horrible thing? Hardly.

I stopped at a log, and slumped into the hard wood and rolled down. I was fated. This proved it. All my life, I tried to make friends… gone. Tried to love… nothing. I couldn't even hold my family close without losing them too.

I shook my head, I needed to stop. I needed to stop the negativity. I started to chant out a little tune, something my therapist had taught me. Something silly and redundant, something I was made fun of for, but that worked. The sedatives in my blood that ran its course was no longer offering a helping hand to mental state, I felt myself unraveling.

Suddenly, a crack. I snapped up from my crouching position. My hands that cupped my ears, shielding out the environmental stimuli, went for the gun. I tried to remember the sequence, but the several possibilities interlocked each other for first place. I looked to my bangle and saw the orb glowing. My heart fluttered against my rib cage as I figured how to unhook the safety. I pointed it to the bush that feverishly shook. When nothing more than a small, insignificant creature. It sniffed the air, was not pleased and left. The orb went to normal.

I relaxed and placed the gun on the ground. I sniffed back a tear and went back to my log of self-pity. As soon as I placed my hand on the log for support, the orb flickered red… a colour I had never seen before. My throat seized as I let out a small yelp, my hands fumbling for the gun. A dark figure sauntered in the distance and I pulled the trigger, completely missing my target as the figure continued forward. I pulled the trigger again and again… somehow, I didn't even graze it. As it approached the clearing, the eerie green glow illuminated the lining of the figure… seemingly humanoid.

I approached it, gun raised high, "what are you doing here?" I asked it, seemingly the proper answer.

"I told you: you're going to help me destroy this Planet."

* * *

**A/N**: So it's starting to come full circle. The ending is nigh, and I have the last chapters planned out. Thanks again to WolfGirl and Ultimolu for your consistent reviews!

Ultimolu: She was on medication, which I was going to refer to this chapter. That's why she's doped up. Damn psychotropics! P.S.: First sentence is for you! ;)


	11. Chapter Eleven: Loneliness

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister, they seek out the aid of a mercenary. But soon they will have to worry about something much greater than Shin Ra on their tail and find that Helena has secrets that may put the world at risk.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**When will this Loneliness be over?**

The time seemed to lengthen in places and shorten in others. I had lost track of the time, it was apparent. He had taken away the clock and the thick curtains were pulled over when he sat in his chair glaring at me, leaving any chance at recognizing a regular time interval impossible. He would leave them closed when he left, but as I wasn't one to listen to ridiculous house rules, I threw them open. I had never felt so disoriented, confused. And to make matters worse, it were as if I could hear Kathe's voice echoing off of the houses but there was no way to find her in the snowy shit hole from my vantage point. And then he would come back. From where, I would have no idea.

He would look at me for a moment, saying nothing. Then he would move past me when he realized I had been a good little house guest.

He was mildly interested in the situation, he had said so. He asked me questions about myself, which I found odd. I knew he was a clone. The host had died several years prior. I wasn't about to make that little fact known to him. But somehow, I think he knew. He would watch me answer the questions, questions the host knew all too well, questions the clones may have known from the acquisition of the host's memories, questions I didn't feel like answering. I refused once. Just once. He took to changing my insubordination and grabbed at my throat, "Remember this one?" He asked, "Under different circumstances, I suppose. It seemed easier to strangle you against the pavement than a headboard."

He handed me a bottle of water, "Hydrate yourself." I hesitantly took the bottle, sloshing the contents around. He looked at me with a look of disdain, I could see it out of the corner of my eye. He approached my ear, "or do you want me to strangle you again?"

It was suspect. But I was one to argue his strength. I drank from the bottle with a gulp of goodwill which appeased him to some degree, he turned on his heel and went to sit on the chair in the corner. I capped the bottle and tossed it onto the bed.

I didn't understand what he want or what he was doing here, but the way he sat there watching my every movement was unnerving. I decided to next to the bottle, moving it over with my hand so I could lay down. I could still feel his eyes borrowing holes on my back. I watched as flakes of snow gathered on the window ledge, between the black curtains, desperately trying to ignore the man behind me. It was comforting to see the thick snowflakes piling onto the sills of the window pane, a feathery gathering of cool cotton-like snow. I wondered if they were looking for me. If they would find me. Would he kill them? Would he make me watch?

A creek was heard from the corner as he stood from his chair. His footfall, hard and heavy on the wooden planks that made up the inn's floor. Quickly his footsteps stopped by the bed. I felt him there, a presence he left there as he silently watched me. I shifted slightly under his gaze, something he seemed to take pleasure in as he moved away from the bed and walked around. He knelt by my head, his fluid movements made me jump up. His face changed, disappointed.

"Drink the water." He ordered.

"Why? What's in it?"

He smirked briefly before handing me the bottle again. He wasn't going to be so kind a second time. "I'll kill both of them," he reassured as he turned around to sit on the bed across from mine, as if reading my mind. He watched as my eyes fluttered, each flutter became more pronounced as I tried to fight it. I looked passed him, watching the snow again, being comforted by the mere sight of its softness. The drifting of each snowflake was mesmerizing as they tumbled off their temporary perch on the window pane and fell to their ultimate rest on the window sill. My heart rate slowed. My breath shallow. Was I dying?

I was transported to a gala of sorts, a gathering of suits and dignitaries, if I ever did see one. One large Shin Ra banner, in all its red glory, hung up behind a spotlight. Ladies gathering in numbers with each other, separating the men into their own groups, and the music played on. I felt myself walking, a blue chiffon skirt dancing around my calves, as I climbed down a set of stairs. From my vantage point, I was able to see a line of posters set up in the far corner, men and some women pasted by reading the posters closely, studying the diagrams and the stereoscopic atlases of multiple animal subjects.

The band played on as I puffed, looking for the most notable faces to sing my praises and they did. Impressed, they all were, someone as young as I was had accomplished so much under the direction of Hollander. The doctor was quite pleased with the work I had accomplished in such little time and was standing by the posters, outlining the possibility for future studies to our guests. _The future generation of the Shin Ra Science Department_, he once said as Hojo attempted to steal my graduate degree from me. I found myself here; my project on the behavioural genetics of the sample JENOVA had turned into my doctoral candidacy. It came as a shock when they announced that I was accepted: I was finally known as Dr. Helena.

My happiest night was cut short. A face that did not belong.

He had threatened me one evening, while I was working late. I was astonished that he knew where I was and that he was crass enough to show up, as we weren't on speaking terms since we were children. But as he continued to talk I noticed his menacing tone becoming darker and darker, until he said it, _"You'll stop working on this project, Helena, or I promise you,"_ He hesitated for a moment, unsure of his motives.

"_Promise what?_" I quipped, swinging my chair around. I had feigned disinterested but this was going too far to be ignored.

"_They are your friends too." _He hissed as he approached, leaning in so our face were only separated by a mention of civility, _"If you continue, I will end this… all of this."_

He seemed to want to keep his promise. I continued and finished the project, wrote my paper and submitted it to the scientists working for the esteemed Science Department. And he was here.

I suddenly had the desire to leave. I grabbed my jacket and hurriedly threw my arms in, forgetting about the buttons. Large snowflakes tumbled from the darkened sky and laid to rest on the cobble walkway. It was a sight to be seen for Midgar, nothing quite like this had occurred since my ten years of living here, so cold our breaths could be seen. My heels clicked as I approached the set of cars to my right; I should cut between them and walk across the gardens to the train station and take it to my loft in Sector 6. I assumed I was safe but I did not stop, taking small, quick steps down the stairs and across the parking lot.

As I approached the cars, I felt a cold glove wrapped around my neck, it was like him to wear his signature gloves. The thought was fleeting as he threw my body hard against the ground. The air escaped my lungs as I tried to scream, nothing came out. I looked up, pleading desperately with my eyes, nothing was said as he grabbed my throat for a second time, squeezing harder and harder as it pleased him. I tried to kick but my legs gave out, making us tumble into the hard cobble ground. That did not make him drop me as he pushed me deeper into the snow, the coolness of it burned my scalp as he twisted his palms deeper into larynx.

I watched as the snow fell above, seemingly out of nowhere, melted and tumbled off onto each side of my face. I closed my eyes, feeling intensely lightheaded and euphoric. It was so peacefully quite, the band played sympathetically in the background, a requiem.

Suddenly the pressure was removed and my body heaved of its own volition. I coughed and wheezed loudly as I tried sitting upright. Air entered and my ears popped and shushed. I opened my eyes, befuddled and bewildered, but no one was around. Just the snow.

I woke to find that I was entwined with the blankets. The curtains were closed shut again. I stood up, my head swollen from the medication. He wasn't there. I suspected he wanted me passed out for the entirety of his trip, his trip possibly longer this time around. A cool draft wafted by my feet and up my legs; he had taken off my shoes. Where? I did not know.

I hurried to the door and tried to open it. It was obviously locked using a method unidentified as there was only a lock that could be opened from the inside and a dead-bolt that I had already opened. I went to the first nightstand and rummaged around and found a letter opener. I jammed the space between the door and the frame, fiddling around with the space a bit, trying to pry open the door latch. The jimmying motion did little more than serrate the frame and door, as I exasperatedly jammed the letter opener side to side.

I was going nowhere with the door and threw the opener across the room. It was then I noticed the windows. I threw open the curtains and peered through each. On looked out into the town. It was night, seemingly past midnight as every lampion was extinguished for the evening. The other looked out the back alley where a large, filled, dumpster lay from the bar below. It was perhaps an eight foot drop, which frightened the hell out of me. But I knew I had to leave before I lacked the chance.

Surprisingly the windows were not bolted like the door, he probably knew of my fears of heights, a memory he shared with the original host. I was beyond fearful of heights; a fear I acquired after a gruesome conditioning process I had designed as a teenager. It was no longer beneficial for me, I was no longer suicidal and I seemed to get myself into situations that required me to be some sort of acrobat. I opened the window and sat on the cool ledge, the wind blew up my pant legs and in my shirt. I really hadn't expected it to be that cold. I took a deep breath, like that before the plunge and wiggled off inch by inch. The door swung door with a crash, out of the corner of my eye I could see that he had indeed returned.

"You really think you can jump?" He taunted.

I shook my head, the jerky movements made him laugh. I pushed with my feet against the wall, my arms lunging forward. I hadn't gotten out the window frame by the time he grabbed both my arms. I cried out in searing pain as both my shoulders strained to keep my weight. He pulled me up and tossed me to the floor. He knelt so we were both at equal height.

"I don't want to keep doing this, Helena." He grabbed at my shoulders, one particularly tender and I shrieked at the touch. He stood and walked to the door.

I pushed as far as I could get myself, digging my heels into the hard wood, and restrained myself into a corner. I whimpered ineffectively, tears pouring out. I watched as he approached again, leaving his famed Masamune in the corner of the room. Both his hand raised as he hunched over my crippled form. I yelled for him to stay away, hoping someone would hear, but no movement followed. He placed his hands onto the tenderest of shoulders and casting a warming green glow over it.

"If I have to heal you again," he warned maliciously, "I'll heal you only half way. I'll make you feel real pain."

We locked stares for a moment. I never realized how green they were. It seemed that I dodged him for so long that I forgot how he even looked. He fished out a bottle of pills and poured out two white round pills. He wasn't going to bother in hiding it this time. I recognized the pills, the same pills they had given me as a child.

"If I do what you say," I squeaked out, allowing him to get another bottle of water, "If I take your damn pills, will you promise me Kathe will be safe."

His eyebrow tweaked slightly, a movement I had been grown accustom over the years. "If they don't get in the way, I hardly think it matters."

I swallowed the pills as told and sat on the bed, waiting for them to take their gripping hold on me. A warmth took over and I allowed my head to roll onto the pillow, my legs tucked neatly by my hips, my arms curled at my chest. He came behind me, pulling the blankets over my body and folding it over by my neck.

"It wouldn't matter," He whispered in my ear, "they'll all be killed and it will be at your request."

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**A/N**: So I planned out the rest of the story! Can't remember if I said that last chapter... But I figure there's only a couple more left. I'll just be pushing out the last chapters and then go back to them to fix whatever I can see wrong with them.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Something Ugly

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary**: Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister, they seek out the aid of a mercenary. But soon they will have to worry about something much greater than Shin Ra on their tail and find that Helena has secrets that may put the world at risk.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**Something Ugly this Way Comes**

My head swelled as I turned over, the movement was not wanted by my frigid body and was actively rejected. I peeled my eyes open and peered through the small slit they made. He was sitting in his chair in the corner of the room, something shiny entangled with his bear fingers. His eyes were fixated on a small pear-shaped crystal, swinging in a leisurely tempo. My hands grasped at my chest trying to find the once hidden necklace; he had taken my necklace, the one I kept tucked away in my shirt. It was frightening how he ignored personal boundaries.

The rustling of the bed sheets alerted him to the fact that I was now awake, though he did not take his eyes off the pendulum motion of the necklace. "I see you can tolerate a lot more of the medication than I assumed," His words slipped through his unmoving lips, languid and distant, "And you said nothing. You are becoming quite the liar, Helena."

"What? You wanted me to tell you that I would need a higher dose to immobilize me for days on end? You'll kill me before you get what you want."

The necklace was snatched back into his hand. He turned around. His heartless stare made me feel uncomfortable. I squirmed upright, sitting with the blankets twisted around me. Though, it seemed, his eyes peered right through them, staring through my very being into a blackness I hadn't seen in ages. "It's not what I want," He revealed, dropping the necklace from his palm, "This means nothing to me. You know what I am. You know who awaits us over the mountain, into the abyss of the Crater."

"Sephiroth." The name seemed to emanate from somewhere I had been refusing to go. My dreams… the way he haunted them. How he perverted my sleep. He was alive. I could feel it. And this this was nothing more than a Clone.

"Yes." He settled back into his chair, his eyes closed as if channeling the energy that was not too far. "I can still remember the day they injected me. How afraid I was but they would still stab me again and again. But it was… comforting; I was no longer alone. It was like that syringe blessed me in a way I could never dream of, made me a part of something greater than I could ever imagine."

"You're mistaken," I warned, "He'll kill you. Toss you away with the other Clones."

He pointedly ignored me as he continued, "At first the change was painful. I thought I would die. But the voice inside of me told me not to worry. And I did not worry. I know I am nothing more than a mere Clone; but I will die for him, for everything he has given to me."

A hollowness filled me. It were as if he had won long before I woke up in Midgar, news of Shinra's death rattling my mind. He was going to win because of things like him, willing to lay themselves down for a bastard child with a demented view of the world. Tears brimmed onto my eyelids as I tried to blink them away. The thought of Kathe, a woman who tried so hard to gain my trust after out falling out was now looking for me in the cold and I threw that all away, used her as a puppet.

"Don't you have family?!" I screamed suddenly, the sadness pouring over, "Don't you remember what it was like to be a part of them! This…! This is nothing more than madman's sickness! A deluded fantasy!"

His head tilted to one side slightly, a quizzical frown strewn across his once pristine face. "You fear loss?" He walked over, hands cupping my face delicately, reminding me of a time when we were children and we only had each other for comfort. "But without loss, you cannot have change." He placed the necklace around my neck and fastened the tie beneath my dishevelled hair. "A new world is in our midst, and you want to take it away because you don't want to lose the woman that took everything away from you?"

I twisted away from his grasp. "You know nothing of my sister," I spat. His placid face said little to the naked eye but a trained person could see the amusement.

I stood, shaking the blankets off of me and began walking to the bathroom. "What do you think you're doing?" He questioned as I began closing the door.

"I'm taking a shower. I've been here for over three days, I've lost count."

"Leave the door open."

An automatic pout protruded from my lip. "You want to watch?" I taunted. "I'm not leaving this door open." He turned away exasperated at the notion of another fight. He made his point clear, I was done, and he was taking me up to the Crater. But I wasn't going all the way up there without a shower or without going to toilet.

I turned the tap on to the coolest setting and opened the small window, hoping the cool breeze would wake me up. I placed a towel at my feet and began undressing. I bent around, looking at my bare back in the mirror. The tattoo was more extensive than I remembered. It covered the majority of my back, small intricate writing looping around the small of my back and making its way up to shoulders. If I was going to do this, I was going to this now, I promised myself in the mirror as my heart thumped and banged around my rib cage.

I pulled the letter opener from inside my pant. The fact that he stole my necklace made me fearful that he found the letter opener stashed away as well. I pulled out my belt and began to sharpen the knife-like edge, hoping it would help with the task at hand. I stumbled through the little medicine cabinet and found a small bottle of after-shave and somewhat sterilized the blade. I placed a towel around my hips, tucking it into my pant, hoping it would catch the majority of the blood. I prayed for a steady hand as I grasped the necklace and began first with the right shoulder.

I picked at the black writing, blood pouring through the jagged stabs. I bit my cheek as I continued off the shoulder and down the side, the taste of blood was rancid. The pain was unimaginable but I distracted myself by praying that I went deep enough. I used the side of the blade to shave of small pieces, like cutting yourself with a razor when shaving, blood pooling onto the towel. It didn't matter, I thought to myself, if I got all of it, as long as I got the majority of it. The middle area near the spine I could not reach so I made sure my left side was done with satisfaction.

As I completed the task, I tumbled into the shower, pulling off my pants as I went towards it. The raw flesh stung. In and out of consciousness, I grasped at the necklace, biting back the urge to scream. The blade stumbled out of my hands clanking in the porcelain tub. I became rigid as I awaited some sort of recourse but nothing came. I took the chance to soak my hair, the pain subsiding some.

I turned off the tap and sat by the edge of tub, the water beading and rolling off my legs and forming large enough puddles on the tile floor. The bloodied towels were gathered in a pile by the sink, skin shavings sprinkled around the crimson sploshes. I took a towel and wrapped my torso, forgoing the bra. I was determined to get to the Crater in such a state, to meet the real Sephiroth face to face, and in my last act of defiance, destroy his dream of a "new world".

Shortly after throwing the towels in the tub and concealing them with the curtain, moping some of the blood around the sink in the process, he knocked at the door demanding that I let him in. I hurriedly shimmied into my shirt and was about to tie my pant went the door swung open. Infuriated with the situation, I pulled the zipper in front of him, all to prove a point. Though his stony glare told me otherwise, I knew he wanted nothing more than to chop me up into small pieces, perhaps give me an extra dose of the tranquilizers while I slept.

"We're going up." He announced, hoping for a forlorn reaction though he wasn't getting one from me.

I pointed out the fact that I didn't have a jacket and somehow, he materialized one. I started to put the coat on, my back stiffened with forming scabs that I played off as my healing shoulder. He didn't seem convinced but seemed more intrigued with the necklace that hung over my shirt. He seemed drawn to it, which was surprising as the host was disgusted by the sheer sight of the crystal necklace.

"It was a gift from Angeal after his first tour of duty. From these parts, apparently. He gave it as a birthday gift."

"I could really care less." He turned away grabbing the beast of the sword that rested on the wall.

He led the way down the stairs into the emptied bar. Day was breaking through the dirtied windows, a soft pink glowing throwing the grime. We exited the inn into the brisk morning air, my nostrils stinging at first breath though it got easier as we walked down the footpath. One woman dusting her shop's sign stared for a moment and then looked away.

"This way," He instructed, "We'll be heading up the mountain through the path." I was quite skeptical at how easily he thought this trip was going to go. I wasn't athletic as seen by my robust figure. But I trusted he had seen that or perhaps had some memories of my lack of skills.

We trekked up into the forest path, drudging through the freshly fallen snow. No footpath had been made as of yet and we were claiming new territory. He walked some steps ahead, his Masamune dragging deep into the snow behind him. The cool silver blade sliced the crusted layer with a certain artistic ease, lifting some patches and cutting through in others. He was graceful in his steps and I tried to avoid making a complete fool of myself, the lack of any aerobic fitness was catching up to me. As I took another forceful breath I felt a warmth trickling down my back. The blood had clotting some time ago but the vigorous exercise was seemingly opening fresh wound. I feared that I would start to make a red trail. He casted stares over his shoulder as we continued up the mountainous side, making certain I wasn't planning anything.

"Do you need help?" He offered. I searched his face for any hint of irony but there were none. I snickered at the notion, a Clone was going to carry me. I was at least fifty pounds of fat over him and there was no way he would carry dead weight.

"Well, if you would slow down, we would be on the right track." Dammit! My foot was stuck in the snow, again! Did we not consider the possibility of having snowshoes?

He took to his pace again, ignoring my request. But I didn't mind as I watched his hair dance dreamily in time with his steps, the way his hair swung by his knees. I was realizing as I watched my body drooped below my central axis of motion, slipping down to the ground. I tried to pick myself before he noticed, but to no avail. He stopped, turned around at first sound of the crunching snow and huddled around me. I tried pushing him off but my weak blows came as only another excuse to look into the situation. He began to unzip the coat as I protested but he continued, he had seen something. He slipped a hand on my back and retracted it into the morning sunlight, crimson liquid reflected off his palm. I leaned back into his embrace, my breathing becoming shallow but I was about to let myself go until I sent him with a parting gift.

The little strength left I gathered, pulling myself into his line of vision, the crunch of the snow was like an avalanche cascading by my ear. I was determined to deliver the message, I was determined to watch as his face fall as I took away the only chance of meeting his maker. "I scraped off every last piece of that tattoo. You'll never have the spell now," I taunted, quite pleased with how far I had gotten; if I wasn't to deliver my message to the grand being himself, I was going to send it in the cries of his disappointed copy. It was satisfying enough.

He laughed, I had hoped he was losing his mind for the second time, but when he sobered he professed my mistake: "you know little of yourself, Helena, little of the gift your mother bestowed on you. It is no tattoo. It is a birth mark. If I heal you, as I am doing now, the tissue will regenerate," He leaned in, as he spoke his lips brushed my nose, making my argument for the lack of personal space quite strong, "And not one piece will be lost."

A crushing wave of nausea took hold. I rolled over to get air and escape his suffocating proximity, but my head seemed as like it was about to burst. I could do little to stop myself from holding consciousness; I had lost too much blood. My heart sank as I realized it was all for naught. I was exposing myself again to the greatest danger the Planet had to face, all with the instructions on how to end it. I felt weak, disabled, stupid… Feelings of worthlessness that never left but that now put so much more at risk. I closed my eyes, allowing the gentle embrace of unconsciousness take hold; at least, I could dream some before I had to wake up to a nightmare.

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**A/N: **A little dark and strange for Halloween! Do let me know what you guys think. I really want to know if it's worth continuing on into the second installment (I have a plan for a continuation already... I have no life). Almost done :)


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Abandon you

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary:** Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister, they seek out the aid of a mercenary. But soon they will have to worry about something much greater than Shin Ra on their tail and find that Helena has secrets that may put the world at risk.

**Warning: Sexual themes abound.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**The Last Time I will Abandon You**

Kathe could not understand how she had gotten herself in such a predicament. Where was she again? She could only feel the tightness of Jofrey's embrace, the wetness of his kisses laying across her neck and the cool, dewy grass beneath as they adjusted their activity to the ground. She could not remember how she had gotten herself here, laying in the dirt with some strange man she met almost two weeks ago, some foreign dirt she had never had the pleasure of knowing. But she was here, accepting the groping hands of a seemingly passionate man, taking his journey below her belt now. The feverish kissing stopped for a moment as he looked up, questioning in silence whether to continue. Kathe nodded, handling the first pant button for good measure.

And then several gunshots in the distance.

Jofrey stood at the first popping sound that echoed in the trees, trying to locate its origins. He gestured Kathe to stay down, not quite sure where the shots were coming from and if they were approaching. It took Kathe a moment to realize that she had lent her gun to her sister and that there was a very real possibility that she was the one firing. As the possibility crossed their minds in unison, they flooded the forest, calling out Helena's name as they frantically tore through.

"Kathe!" Jofrey called out a few feet ahead, "Come here!"

Kathe fearing the worst approached with quick feet but a heavy heart. As she joined Jofrey in the clearing, she did not find Helena, a sudden weight lifted off of her chest and she was suddenly able to breathe. But as Jofrey knelt down to the ground pointing out left behind articles, Kathe's mind wandered again to the worse. There, by Jofrey's hands as he gestured out in the small brush were Helena's bangles and the gun.

"It's him," Kathe hissed out, "How could I let her go! How could I have been so stupid?!"

"She was pretty adamant in you letting her go," Jofrey pointed out.

"What does that mean?! You really think she would give up? That was her own plan the entire time?" Kathe rebuked, "She left because of you!" She knelt down and grabbed the gun, counting the bullets that remained in the clip. Helena had emptied nearly half of it on the unknown assailant, but Kathe had a sinking suspicion who it might be.

"You think he found us?" Jofrey responded sardonically to her suspicion, trying to understand the mess they had gotten themselves in by just turning their backs one moment.

"I think he knew where we were the moment I left Midgar with Helena," Kathe knew it was only a feeling, but she had seen her sister suffer nightmares nearly every night they had left the hospital, "I don't know how, but I think he was just biding his time, hoping we'd bring her here."

Jofrey adjusting the short sword resting on her belt, scoping out the clearing. It were as if something had spirited away with her. They were her foot prints that much he could see, but all of a sudden they stopped by the gathering of brush, most likely where that something asked her to disarm herself.

Kathe had tied her blonde locks into a hasty bun and roughly clipped her gun back into its holster. She was already marching back to camp, determination written in her eyes. Jofrey followed, trying to make sense of it all. Was it another sister trick, he had hoped. But when he saw Kathe taking down the tent and packing her bag, he knew that she had already construed a plan.

"Where are we going?" Jofrey had to ask, packing his own merger things.

"We're going up the mountain to Icicle," she confirmed.

Jofrey at this point was quite befuddled, but that was nothing new. Kathe wasn't one for words, Helena was usually the woman that seemed to delve as much as need be to make Jofrey understand their current situation. Although, in the past, it could be said that Helena was a liar and it may have not served Jofrey any purpose at all to listen to either one of them; but Helena had come to her senses and told them a great deal of a scary, nightmarish situation. Was Kathe willing to do the same, when they were clearly stuck in a nightmare?

Kathe started up the small incline towards the mountain that would get them over to Icicle. She was silent the entire way and so was Jofrey, but not of choice. He had a great deal of questions that needed answering. Like, why Icicle? Their previous need for Icicle was when Helena was in their group and now she was kidnapped. He was questioning his own sanity, unsure if he was doing this because he was completely nuts or just wanted to get laid. But he knew that Kathe wouldn't jeopardize her sister's safety, especially if she was captured by some lunatic that would skin her as soon as he was done with her.

"Hey!" Jofrey exclaimed, the sudden changing in the environment snapping his out of his thoughts, "Something came through here!"

Kathe turned, snapping to where Jofrey was directing her attention. "What do you mean _something_?"

"A human." Jofrey stooped down to the ground, placing the tent off to the side. His fingers traced the ground, feeling the moistened earth. He nodded in confirmation, "the ground just out of the clearing wasn't wet enough. There's definitely a set of foot prints… your sisters."

"Just… my sisters?" Kathe mulled the concept in her mind, did Helena plan all of this? And for what reason? Of perhaps she managed to escape the man?

"Look!" Jofrey stood up and walked a ways up the mountain side. His hands traced the leaves of the trees, foliage beginning to appear on the trees at this point. He picked off one leaf in particular and handed it to Kathe. She inspected it curiously and dropped it with fright when she realized what lay slick on the leaf.

"Its fresh blood," Kathe muttered, looking at the trees that contained the blood. Only small speckles of blood hung onto the trees, but it only made it clear that something else was with Helena, something dangerous. It could be no coincidence.

They said nothing more, saving their strength to march up the mountain. It was nothing more than a foot hill, really, as they made their trek just before the sunlight beamed over the boarder of the icy fields. It was true they had little protection and so they made a point to cross the ice flat to Icicle before the chill got to them.

Icicle is a small gathering of winter snuggled chalets, snow pilling in the most awkward of crooks and crannies. It did not help any matter of being cold at all and so they had decided to check into the inn. The inn had a gathering of folks from many corners of the world, including some under-dressed men from Costa del Sol, looking to snowboard. Kathe ordered two warm drinks while the bartender looked at his records.

"We've got a room that'll be free up tonight." He then turned to some other customers looking for a good stiff drink.

Kathe, exasperated, sifted through the records looking for something out of place, a sign from Helena perhaps. But they hadn't stopped it seemed. She downed her drink and accepted the room.

"Where could we get something more appropriate?" Kathe asked. The barkeeper pointed out the door, the shop in front carried a wide variety of clothing and the only clothing being sold in those parts were clothes of substance.

"Hey," Jofrey peered through the window as Kathe paid for the triple layer coats they would certainly need and the thermal layers they hoped they wouldn't. Kathe's interest was piqued and she looked through the curtains.

"That's—" Grabbing her coat and slipping through the door, Kathe hollered at the red-headed man.

"You-!" Kathe began as she reached the red-headed blue suit.

"Yes?" The lone Turk asked, sizing the strange woman up and down. It didn't take long before he realized who she was. He had met her on a handful of occasions, was first introduced as a scientist working under Dr. Gast for the shortest of time before some backdoor deals allowed Hojo to off him, at which time he met her again. "Kathelyn Menninger." He said flatly, more interested in the little Menninger.

"She isn't here," Kathe snapped, cutting his search short, "I'm sure you're fully aware that someone has been looking for her and that the fact that you're here is not purely coincidence."

Reno smiled. "Well of course we know! I'd be a shitty Turk if I didn't know about some science-y secrets of my own. But I… uh… where's Helena?"

"He got her," Jofrey spoke up in Kathe's place.

"That's not good. Not good at all. Do you realize what that means?" Reno grabbed his phone about to dial.

Kathe, pretty certain she wanted to keep Shin Ra out of her business, snatched the phone up. "I know about the Black Materia. And I know that you helped Helena back in Goldsaucer. But let's keep all of this between us. We're going to get her back, even before anyone else notices." She handed back his phone

Reno contemplated the matter, he had helped the woman. Not because she was particularly beautiful, or that he was womanizer to begin with, but perhaps looking at her eyes made him realize something: what it was to feel pain. The thought that she may be at risk, for that matter, all of Gaia was at risk made hijm readily put his trust in the duo. "We're trailing some people… a band of misfits, they are. They're scaling the mountain as we speak."

"What's over there?" Kathe asked.

"Sephiroth." Reno answered, "Rufus found that the Crater has a high level of Mako; he's still hoping for the Promised Land. But I think there's something more sinister."

Kathe snickered, "You mean Rude thinks; if I remembered he's the more profound of the two."

"Hey!" Reno seemed insulted by the remark, but wasn't about to argue. "Just take my word for it and head up the mountain, but take the other path that loops around. It'll take longer but you'll be out of the way." With that, Reno slipped out to the main road where he met up with the rest of the Turks. It became clear Kathe that there was no time to spare.

"Whoa there," Jofrey held Kathe back, "We haven't slept yet."

"We've been relaxing this entire trip! What one night of no sleep." Kathe was rearing to go but Jofrey was resistant. He did not want to be caught in a snowstorm due to negligence from not sleeping. But Kathe was right, there was no time to waste. He heard stories of the North Crater and its insane climb; it will take forever to climb and even longer if they needed to slip around the Crater.

"As long as I get to her in time, I don't care." Kathe proclaimed.

As they walked up the path, the falling snow gathering on Kathe's eyelashes and stuck to her hair. She pulled up her hood, avoiding the possibility of frostbite. The cool air wafted down the side of the mountain, slipping into the openings of the jacket, causing Kathe to shiver. All she wanted was to get up the mountain, to get to Helena, before the worst of her fears came true. She wasn't the best sister, she had to admit she abandoned her sweet baby sister for the prospect of a brighter future.

Kathe collapsed into the snow, her hand clasped around her chest as she sobbed. Jofrey swung around at the sound, had she already succumbed to the cold? Kathe continued to sob as the man sat by her, gently rocking her in his broad arms. She hadn't notice how massive he was, she was so locked away in her tower, punishing herself for what she did.

"Don't worry," He hummed, "We'll get her."

"You don't understand," Kathe wept, "I did horrible, horrible things. When her mother died, we moved to Midgar. My father was a complete wreck and couldn't take care of Helena… she was such a handful, always was. Always crying and in rage at the most minor of things. He couldn't take it anymore… he left us."

Jofrey stopped rocking Kathe, trying to comprehend the words she was saying. He couldn't imagine what these women had to go through, he didn't even want to go there. He looked her in the face, her lips quivering. She was a mess.

"We will find her, Kathe." He urged for her not to give up, to not let herself crumble to some past experience.

"I left her there."

"What?"

"I…" Kathe stood up suddenly, disgusted with herself, not wanting to be touched. She had to press on, she had to reveal to him what a monster she felt she was, "The Shin Ra showed up at school one day. They asked me about Helena. I didn't want to say anything but they kept on and on, asking me questions. They promised I would be taken care of. No longer having a father to care for us, I just wanted to be safe. Do you understand?" Kathe questioned Jofrey, hoping he had not considered the worse of her as well. He said nothing nor made any comforting gesture, he just sat there on the balls on his heels looking at her, staggered by the sudden turn of events.

She continued, regardless of the answer, "I hated her… how much she would scream and fight us. I just wanted her gone…"

"She lost her mother, for Shiva's sake!" Jofrey spat, repulsed.

"For so long I hated her because I was a self-centered bitch, a child with no conscious. I just… was so angry she took my father away from me! If only we had never met her mother, none of this would have happened."

Kathe turned to face the cliff… Gaea's Cliff. She realized after working with Dr. Gast for the shortest of time as a young lady what it meant to live with one's decisions. And this was one decision she did not want to die with. It was serendipitous that Helena decided to reach other and give her the opportunity to make for her wrongdoings, to show that she did love her, she just didn't know how.

"It was all my fault, I know that, I won't excuse it. What I've done will always haunt Helena, and I will live my life knowing that. But," Kathe paused, looking at the bangle on her wrist: Helena's bangle. "I'm not willing to let her go, Jofrey."

He sighed, "Me neither. Why do you think I'm all the way up here?"

"I don't care what you think of me."

"What can I think of you? This world puts kids to make adult decisions." He reasoned, stepping forward.

"We can't excuse our actions as a mere product of our circumstances. Helena was a prime example of that."

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**A/N: **I just read over the last couple of chapters and... YIKES! Lots of errors. As we say in French: bourrée de fautes. Anyways, I will be looking over the entire story, maybe even adding "extended scenes" after I have written the last chapters. Bear with me :) By the way... I don't know if anyone has noticed this but each chapter title is a lyric from a song! Yeah... that you guys might be excited to hear that, hahaha!


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Tearing you Apart

**Written on Her Back**

**Summary**: Helena is a fugitive, running away from Shin Ra's grasp. Along with her sister, they seek out the aid of a mercenary. But soon they will have to worry about something much greater than Shin Ra on their tail and find that Helena has secrets that may put the world at risk.

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**Chapter Fourteen**

**In the Meantime, I'm Dreaming of Tearing you Apart**

The cool, damp air of the cavern wafted into my nostrils, awakening my senses little by little. Thick sounds trickled into my consciousness as my eyes fluttered open. I was laying down on the hard rock surface, this little noted fact made me realize where I was: the Crater, we had arrived.

It was haunting the way he stood there, the wind grabbing hold of his black coat and tossing it about, his hair following suit. He was contemplating on something far below, his lips moving to the tune of his warped mind. His voice increased in volume as he realized I had awoken, christening me into his delusion.

"He's here. We've finally come to join him for the Reunion." He did not turn to face me nor did he refer to be directly, but he knew I was watching him intently, a massive migraine crashing inside my head.

I scoped the area, my head still reeling about but I could see enough of the cavern. An eerie green glow illuminated the rock walls that led straight up into the black sky. Jutting out rock formations from the walls forms ledges of sorts, I assumed we were on one said ledge, lower down to the Lifestream where I assumed the green glow originated from. There was no escaping, not without a particular man on my tail, dragging me down to the very bowels of the Planet. I had to relinquish my childish need to hope.

As I was searching about, the sinister man approached with a ghost-like quietness, his feet barely hitting the ground. And so it came as a surprise when the Clone slipped down to his knees, grasping my chin in the processes. In one fell swoop, he pulled both of us to our feet, our eyes merging into one blanked stare, accepting our mutual death. He released me shortly afterwards, comforted to know that he had broken the scroll for his master, pleased with the work he had accomplished.

"Soon the sky will fall around us," He began, his mind and body wandering elsewhere, "And the Planet, in fear, will spew its own blood to heal these disastrous wounds. Amongst the blood we will gather with the great Sephiroth, ascending into a new state of being."

Hojo had finished it. He had made the project come full circle. Each cell in our bodies, divided, mean nothing. The cells of Jenova, however, lived on a greater conscious. The Reunion Theory. But did he expect that his son, the fetus he mutated to assume the genetic make-up of a 2000 year old organism, to be at the center of the Reunion? To be the general consciousness of the cells? To amass them here, gathering his strength while he bided his time, to summon the destructive force.

He swiveled around, perturbed at the understanding that I was no longer sharing in his breaking mind. How hard it must have been for him to be so close to the source of the Reunion, every mutant cell in his body crying to be melded into the body of the host. His hands grasped my face as gently as he could muster; a clear sheen slicked over his own face.

"You have nothing to say, dearest Zohar."

I swatted away his hands. "I have nothing to say to you."

I moved back a step but was caught in an intricate movement that involved two broad arms entrapping me. He was intent in keeping me close. He seemed fearful of the inevitable, a future he may have tried to escape in the past but was locked back into hellish nightmare that was the incredible, unyielding will of Sephiroth. Two hands grasped at my hips, pulling my frigid body closer, hoping to receive some sort of comfort from the interaction. I offered no such possibility, throwing myself from one side to the next, screaming death. The sound reverberated up and off the rock walls, but it did not stop him as he continued to hold tight. I held fast to my anger but let it slip, slapping the silver-haired man clear across the face. His face sullen as he let me go, watching as I back slowly off to the ledge.

"Let her go!" A female voice cried out from the ledge above. It was Kathe, aiming her gun straight at the Clone.

The Clone turned to face the new comer but found a second one instead, on our ledge. Jofrey somehow scaled the wall quietly while both of our attentions were directed elsewhere, his short sword drawn. The Clone was not impressed, his hand hovering over the hilt of his Masamune, ready to strike. Kathe's hands were unsteadily after the movements of the Clone as he slowly stalked Jofrey. This wasn't about to end well.

"Kathe, please -!"

"We're here to save you Helena; we care for little else!"

"Save her?" The Clone taunted, "I hardly think so. It was willed for her to be here. She will commit to what she was born to do."

"She's coming with us, Sephiroth. You're not getting your way." Jofrey's hands dropped, weary and unsure.

The Clone's hand's dropped to the hilt, drawing out his sword partially. Kathe cried out and a gun shot off. I saw the shot aimed directly at the silver-haired man, the bullet slowing by his face. My breath caught in my throat as the bullet tumbled down only slightly, deflected back out. Jofrey suddenly crumbled to the ground, yelping out in pain. The bullet shot him. Wounded and vulnerable, it was the Clone's chance to end his life and any hope that bore with it.

"No!" I exclaimed, throwing myself at the mercy of the Clone's feet. The Clone rotated, disappointed with the little fight my comrades had to give him; the last moment he could enjoy himself before his untimely death. Kathe scaled down, lifting Jofrey up to her chest. She offered him a potion which I hear him gag back but it would bid them time as I did the same.

"Please," I gravelled, I holding the Clone's cold gloved fingers, "Please let them go and I'll do what you want. So long as you leave them be. Please, leave them be."

Kathe shook her head vehemently, as both of us watched. Satisfied that he had destroyed everything I held dear, constructed me to be some hideous monster. The Clone's fingers slipped out of my grip and instead held my hands. He lifted me to my feet.

"It doesn't matter, you know that Helena. You will all die."

Somehow, two hands landed on my shoulders and threw me down the ledge, down to the green Lifestream below. Kathe's frantic shriek could be heard as I plummeted down to my seeming death.

Hitting the green amorphous liquid sent my body into a shock, my mind barely grasping reality as I sunk deeper and deeper. But I awoke to the uncrystallised screams, babble and murmurs of an indefinite number of voices chanting to me. The voices of those who had passed. Although they were aggressive at first, when they were made of my presence, they suddenly hushed they disjointed babble and instead opted to collected communicate.

_You're sister has escaped._

_He is not dead. Wounded badly._

_Does it matter?_

_We can feel __**him**__._

_Do you know?_

_How you got your birthmark?_

_Can you feel __**him**__?_

Suddenly their pleas for me to hone in some psychic sense of Sephiroth increased in desperation until their voiced descended into a maddening cry of agony. It was clear he was causing a great deal of pain to the Planet, the awareness that incantations of the dreaded Black Materia re-entered the Lifestream, where it was meant to no longer mix with the general consciousness. It was decided by the all-knowing Cetra that they needed to separate the general consciousness from the incantations of the Black Materia, a failsafe, if someone managed to retrieve the Black Materia from the Temple. The incantation was literally laced into the DNA of a specific bloodline of the Cetra. I had little else of the Cetran bloodline but the birthmark.

I felt the Lifestream crescendo into silence. There was sickening sense of nothingness as the voices of countless beings ended. Was this the foretelling of a grim and dark future that I was responsible for? It was certain that there was nothing that could be done to stop it. The Black Materia was procured by Sephiroth. To do what exactly? I tried to understand everything that was occurring, seemingly at once. And the silence was not offering any help.

In the silence a sickly sensation washed over me. Like being watched by daggers.

_The Black Materia is once again mine. These puppets have proven useful._

His will was the crystallized existence in the amorphous entity that was the Lifestream. His voice seemed to permeate all fibers of my consciousness and it was only a matter of time before I was to be known, if I wasn't already. Perhaps I had always been known.

_Please. _I pled with the last of my strength. _You don't have to do this._

Slowly and deliberately, the incantations were read. The screams commenced. No longer in the drawn out agony but in the perpetual fear. The Meteor needed deliberate guidance but it would take time to reach the Planet. And until then, the Planet would continue to watch despondently as the mass entered the Planet's atmosphere and slowly made contact with the crust. Involuntarily, the Lifestream would gush and be absorbed by a malicious being for some purpose hardly worth the sacrifice.

_A better world awaits us, Helena. _

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**A/N: **Back to the regular cast and POV! For continuity's sake, dialogue won't be like this in consequent chapters because Helena delves deeper into her subconscious (going from preconscious to unconscious, I would say) and it becomes more inner-dialogues guided by the presence of our favorite villain. Just to give a heads up, lol. Got one last chapter and an epilogue :_( _  
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**Nov. 19: **So I am half-way done the last chapter. Unfortunately I won't be able to post until the 24th since I have 3 deadlines to meet for an article I'm writing, one of them being tomorrow. So once that's done, you'll have my attention. Hope you guys keep interest!


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